


Lost in Orbit

by MementoVive



Category: Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Character Death, Computer Shenanigans, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Game(s), Survivor Guilt, Tags will update with the story, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Spoilers, Xenoblade Chronicles Spoilers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:43:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 78,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MementoVive/pseuds/MementoVive
Summary: XENOBLADE SPOILERS ABOUND!After Klaus initiated the program that was meant to save the human race, he is left alone in the world with nothing but a handful of angry scientists, a broken space station riddled with deadly monsters, and half a body.Klaus has never felt more alone in his life, but who is he to decide that the world should end now? If his initial ambition was to rebuild the universe, then he would not only be a fool, but a coward to abandon it.He will finish what he started. No matter the cost.He owes it to them, at the very least.A series of events following the fateful decision that Klaus made when he split the world in two.
Comments: 32
Kudos: 27





	1. Aftermath

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance because updates will probably be sporadic as I try to figure out the rest of the story. I suspect this will only have 4 or 5 chapters, but who knows!

“Ever since I was a boy, I was told that we were made to be something greater. That humans are the beings that were meant to achieve the impossible. That we are brave enough to go further beyond our capabilities and exceed expectations. By what creatures or people? Heavens knows.  
I was told that humans had the ability to break free of our fates; our fates that were to be as but the animals that mindlessly roam the lands below us. That we were given the gift of intelligence to grow and adapt to changes of the earth. That we could be unstoppable.

I was told that we could change our future. The future that we are destroying with poisons and greed and war and hatred.

Whoever told us that we are stronger than we truly are, was a fool.

But perhaps I am a fool as well. I intend to change this future that we have set in store for ourselves.

There is no time for second guessing. A new future, no…  
A new world, awaits us.

Despite everything, I need to try and give us another shot at redemption, even if we are truly beyond saving.

If not for everything, then for her.

The attacks are continuing tomorrow, I cannot delay this any longer.

It’s time to change fate, and seize our true destiny”

* * *

The room’s atmosphere was heavy and silent. Nobody spoke as they kept mostly to themselves, huddling in the small corner of an old office-turned janitors space. The clock at the far end of the small room ticked on its own, the only sound in the room until the silence was broken.

“He out of it yet?”

Alexandra sighed and got up from where she was sitting, stretching her arms. Gonzalez, who had been leaning against a table lifted his head at the movement.

“I could check for you, though I doubt he’s doing much better than earlier,” She waited then sighed again when she got no response from the rest of the team.

“Fine. Look I know it sucks but we have to stick together through all this, we don’t know what’s happened outside- “

“-Exactly,” Markus interrupted her from where he was sitting across from her, his gaze finally rising to meet hers, “and it’s his damn fault. Don’t see why we gotta pity him when we’ve got a lot more problems on our plate.” 

Alexandra rubbed her forehead, “I’m not pitying him, none of us are. But come on,” she gestured towards the shut door behind her, “he’s one of us. We can’t let him just stay like this and watch him rot along with the rest of this world. Not only that,” She continued, pushing through Markus who had his mouth open to argue, “He’s the only one here who’s trained to operate the high-level AI.”

Frederick ducked his head and held his hands over his head, squeezing them till they were pale. Alexandra forced herself to take a breath so she didn’t lose her cool. Everyone was just as stressed out as she was, taking her frustration and fear on them would be counter productive. Instead, she made her way towards the door and opened it.

The dark hall was not a very comforting sight, but she could make out the large doors across from her and it was enough to strengthen her resolve.

“I’ll be right back,” Alexandra said, then marched herself across the hall, her hands clenched in her coat pockets.

She automatically reached for her identification tag but stopped herself. There was no power on now, at least, not enough to keep the scanners on. Everything except for the basic necessities had to be done manually now. At least that also included the locks as well, a silver lining at this time.

Alexandra slipped her hand through the cracks of the door and pushed it aside. The room inside was darkly lit, as was the rest of the station. The monitors were all off, except for the occasional blip from the main computer at the front. She slowly walked across the room, her eyes taking in the only real source of light in this area of the station.  
The Conduit continued to thrum with energy behind the giant glass window, despite the massive amount it must have consumed the other day. Just looking at it made Alexandra feel small and insignificant. The Conduit exerted its own power that made her limbs stiffen and her breath catch in her lungs. Alexandra had to force her eyes away from the Conduit to the figure curled beneath it, his lab coat torn from the explosion, and Alexandra had to avert her eyes from his left side. Well, lack of left side.

She stepped closer and this time tried to make her presence known by scuffing the floor with her foot in the next step. The sound echoed throughout the room, but the professor barely shifted, his one arm curled around what remained of his stomach. The strange black void that hung off his side reacted only slightly, flaring in response to the sudden noise in the room. His one eye that wasn’t taken by the void was open wide, glazed and unseeing as he stared into nothing.  
Alexandra stooped down and nudged his shoulder, the one that was still there; she winced when he didn’t react. Same as the last few days.

“Professor?” She nudged him again, “Klaus, please answer, you can’t stay like this forever.”

A whimper made its way out of the figure below her and she sighed, resting her hand on his shoulder as he curled deeper into himself, his voice quiet and broken. Alexandra didn’t bother listening to the words that began making its way out of him, they were nothing but ravings of a madman who had lost everything. She had heard them plenty before when he first woke up.

She tried again, “Klaus, we need you.”

“She’s gone, she’s gone it took her the void took her I’m sorry I’m sorry what did I do I didn’t mean- “

Alexandra shifted into a more comfortable position and shook his shoulder again; she had nowhere else to be right now, by being here with her superior – ex-superior now, she supposed. Does the end of the world mean she still has to work under him? – she was at least helping something in this world gone upside down.

It was silent for a long time before she heard shuffling from behind the door. Klaus had gone quiet in the few hours that had passed with her standing vigil at his side, offering no comfort but as much compassion that she had left in her. His voice had left him, and his mad whispers had faded into nothing but breaths and silent words; not that they were very strong in the first place. When he first woke up, he had screamed himself raw, waking up everyone else in the room in the process and giving them a horrible scare. His body shook from exhaustion. Alexandra was exhausted, too. Everyone was. They all needed to eat as well, there would be more than enough food in the Cafeteria down the hall, but there had been… noises coming from that direction that none have them had drudged up the bravery to check. Creatures they had caught glimpses of that exuded hostile auras.

A hand fell onto Alexandra’s shoulder, and she glanced up at Gonzalez; his mouth was set in a hard line as his gaze fell to the professor curled into himself on the floor.

“We are going to scout the rest of the station and see if there’s any way out safely. Markus thinks there might be a way to get out to Elysium without getting caught, but those… creatures may try to strike again. It’s best if we head out as a group.”

“And the power?” She asked him.

“Markus says its our best bet, we either go through Elysium to reboot the main source or we try to go through that monster again to get the Trinity back online, and risk losing another person.”

He turned to look at Alexandra and she nodded, looking back at Klaus, who still lay unresponsive to their conversation, his mouth still moving though no sound made it through his lips.

“Markus is right, Alex,” Gonzalez said, and Alexandra turned back to look at him again, “He’s a liability right now, I don’t know if he’ll ever snap out of this. Not after what he’s done.”

Alexandra looked down, “He says its atonement.”

“And what do you think?”

Alexandra remained silent.

Gonzalez pat her shoulder and offered her his hand. She took it, dusting herself off. They stared at Klaus for a moment before Gonzalez sighed and kneeled in front of him and shook him once.

“Come on man, we’re waiting for you.” He said, his voice quiet but hard.

Klaus didn’t even blink.

Gonzalez tried to meet his gaze, but Klaus looked right through him, his breathing short and uneven.   
He snapped his fingers, but he got more or less the same result, and he huffed.

“How are you even still alive, Prof?”

Klaus didn’t answer, as he never did.

Gonzalez stood and shrugged a silent ‘I tried’ before leading them out of the room and to where the others were waiting.

“Hey, maybe we can find some other survivors.”

Alexandra looked back at the professor one last time then steeled herself and left to rejoin the others.


	2. Split

She was gone. She was there a moment before, throwing herself at him after he had pushed her away and gripping his shoulder with a force he had never seen nor felt from her before. They had met each others’ eyes for a split second, hers filled with betrayal and shock and his… well, he didn’t know what he looked like.  
He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

Her hand was on his shoulder one moment and then it was gone the next, her death grip was replaced with something much stronger and painful. It was as if half of his body was set aflame and then it was forced apart by the very makeup of his being. It was as if something was eating him alive.

He didn’t know if he screamed, he must have, because he remembered someone screaming. He remembered multiple people screaming, and then they would cut out with a strange noise, like the sound of a scratching record player, and then there would be silence. But he remembered others. Others that kept screaming and trying to reach him, him and Galea who wasn’t at his shoulder anymore but instead there was fire and pain that was splitting him apart and he couldn’t think or breathe.

But then he could, but it wasn’t just him that was thinking, was it? Though it was him at the same time. He felt the fire that grew from passion and rage, and he felt the cold, dark emptiness that came with confusion and loss. But he also felt the chills that froze the body when realizing that something had gone very, very wrong and he felt with it the weight of shame that was ten times the strength of an anchor, dragging him down to reality. He wanted to take it all back, but he didn’t. He wanted to stop this, but he wanted to continue, to evolve into humanities true potential gain and show them the true meaning of being a God-

-but that wasn’t what he wanted, not anymore, because with a brilliant flash of red everything went silent, and finally Klaus did too. He couldn’t hear himself, but the fire was still there raging throughout his body and the world tilted as he fell.

Nobody was there to catch him.

He didn’t realize the entire left side of his body was missing until he woke up, the pain that coursed through him felt dull, universes away but present. A persistent nag that only got stronger when he realized what had happened and he screamed in agony and horror.  
He barely heard the startled shouts through his foggy mind that then reflected his own horror, hands that hovered around him but never settled as he thrashed and screamed until his strength left his body and his sight started fading around the edges.

There was the sound of people yelling all around him, he felt himself being roughly stood up, but his legs couldn’t hold him and he was pinned against something metal and tough, He could taste it in his mouth. Someone was yelling something at him now, but he couldn’t make out the words or the face; his breath wouldn’t come to him to matter how hard he tried, escaping faster than he could catch it, and he couldn’t hear anything aside from the ringing that began to overcome the screaming and yelling in his ears. Ear. God.

Eventually he was let go, the angry hands were pried off of him and he collapsed, somebody catching his fall and setting him onto the ground where he curled back into a ball and let the voices above wash over him.

  
He wanted to ask where Galea was. But he already knew the answer. He knew the answer to what happened to everything and everyone aside from him and the voices above. He felt the bile rise in his throat as the thought _‘I did this’_ was beat into his head like a mantra, like a heartbeat and he couldn’t breathe.

Galea was gone.

And so, Klaus lay on the ground and cried himself to unconsciousness; universes away, he heard himself laugh.

* * *

He didn’t move for a long time. It could have been hours, or days, or weeks, yet he couldn’t find in himself the strength to get up and find out. There wasn’t anything left here anymore; no new world that could save them or hope for a future he had tried so hard to create.  
They were extinct. He had effectively destroyed the entire human race. All that remained was himself and the others that had dropped by occasionally to try and get him to move. At least that’s what he thought they were doing. He couldn’t tell if they were speaking to him or if they were moving him. Klaus felt like he wasn’t in his own body, like he was witnessing everything through a thick fog that distorted reality and muffled the voices that tried to reach him. He didn’t know how many other survivors there were in the station with him, all he knew was there was nothing left outside for them anymore.

The humans on board with him, they were exceptions. They must have been close by when he had- …when the explosion had gone off. During a split second of that time between the explosion and the terrible pain that had ripped his body into two, he had been able to see every life form on the station. Though, Klaus supposed, it was more like he sensed their life forces. It was almost as if he was the Conduit for a millisecond of time. The power that had coursed through him was nothing short of incredible, like he could create and destroy more worlds with a mere wave of his hand; and then it was gone, and he felt that arrogance and pride leave him with it. And the humans aboard the Rhadamanthus, many of them had either disappeared or… transformed.  
There had to be a reason for that. He just didn’t want to think about it all too much right now.

Another wave of phantom-like pain shuddered his own body and Klaus couldn’t muster the voice to even groan, he just held his side harder and focused on breathing through it. He didn’t even know how he was still alive. If he even was.  
The left side of his body was gone, did that include his heart as well?

Well, there was something else he couldn’t dwell on for very long as well now, without relapsing into another… whatever this was.

His thoughts felt slow and dull, but he was thinking now, at least. The last bit of time he had spent laying on the laboratory floor was fading from his mind; like he was grasping at sand falling through his fingers and it was difficult to remember what had happened specifically after he had hit that final button.

Muffled footsteps were making its way closer to his room, but he didn’t turn his head to look. He didn’t have the energy for this. He could feel his guilt weigh heavily against his body and soul, anchoring him to the ground permanently.

Voices followed shortly after the scuffling from beyond the door and they grew louder as they entered the room, the door creaking as it was slid open and shut quickly.

The voices were raised, and they were clamoring over each other, there was the sound of shoes squeaking against the floor and the sound of something hitting the ground.

They returned; Klaus mused, he tried to think back to when they were with him last. Didn’t they mention something about scouting the rest of the station? He couldn’t remember.

The voices weren’t getting any quieter, in fact, one was growing louder than the rest. Someone called out, and then he was roughly lifted into the air and thrown back against something hard and metallic once again. His head cracked painfully against whatever he had been thrown into and his vision blurred for a moment.

The man that held him was shouting, and through the shock of being roughly picked up and slammed against something hard, something had clicked into place.

“Wake up, Klaus!” the man shouted.

Klaus was able to catch that last part.

His head throbbed, and Klaus flinched, though it was strange, the throbbing wasn’t coming from the injury on the back of his head, but instead from the left side of his face.

A high voice broke through the lessening fog in his brain, female, perhaps; and the man holding him yelled back at her, and his grip tightened on Klaus’s shirt.

Another throb from within the void and a familiar emotion came back to him, though this time it was accompanied by something that felt alien and intrusive.   
Klaus lifted his head slowly for the first time in a long time, his temples pounded from the anger that raged from the void but froze at the sight in front of him. The woman was yelling at the man pinning him against what he knew now to be a large computer at the front of the room. He remembered them clearly now, the students that worked in his department for an internship.   
Alexandra was gesturing with her arms, like she was trying to make a point about something while Markus was yelling back at her, his grip was tightening on Klaus as his voice grew louder.

“So what do you think we should do now? How is tossing around another injured man going to help us out?”

“We need answers, Alexandra!”

Over Markus’s shoulder, Klaus could make out Gonzalez, another professor from a different branch in the laboratory. Though he was new and likely didn’t know the place very well like Klaus had known for the majority of his life.

Gonzalez was leaning over something, a person, Klaus realized quickly and suddenly it was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over him, dousing the anger that had risen and woken him up at the sudden violence. Klaus couldn’t make out who the person was on the floor, but he didn’t think he knew him before either. Gonzalez was pressing his lab coat over the man on the ground, and though the Conduit made everything out to be in a golden haze Klaus could see the coat staining red.

“Answers aren’t going to help us right now! What’s done is done, Markus, and we need to focus on us right now. Put him down.”

Klaus tore his eyes away from the man bleeding out on the floor and watched Markus and Alexandra’s debate, both of them were focused on each other, rather than himself or the other two on the floor. The ringing in his ears was fading by now, replaced with the monotonous thrum of the Conduit and the others’ voices were coming in with higher clarity.

“Answers are exactly what we need right now! All this because of some damn experiment? We had families, Alexandra!”

Klaus winced, the hand on his shirt was turning white and Markus jostled him, “Klaus, answer me! How do we fix this?!”

Klaus met his eyes, and the room went silent. He could feel each of their stares burning into him and he longed to give them the answer they wanted. The answer that could turn back the clock and fix all of this.   
He never wanted this to happen.

Klaus opened his mouth and spoke; his throat was searing from overuse, but he couldn’t say nothing. He could not back down now.

“We can’t.”

Markus stopped and looked at Klaus, his grip loosened a bit, but Klaus couldn’t focus on that anymore, not with the way Markus was looking at him; like he had finally ripped the floor from underneath him.

“We… can’t.”

Klaus was having trouble seeing, the room was blurring. He shook his head, “I’m sorry,” he said, it was hardly a whisper.

“I’m so sorry.”

Carefully, he was set down, it wasn’t until he felt something soft wipe his face that he realized that he was crying.

Gonzalez made his way over to them, placing his hand on Markus’s shoulder, “Markus,” he tilted his head back, “we need proper bandages, I don’t know if Frederick will make it through the night without them.”

“So what do you think…”

“There’s a storage closet we passed on the way back here, if we’re quick, we can grab any emergency items and make a break for the next room.” Gonzalez said.

He turned back to his patient on the floor, waiting for Markus to give his orders.

“Shit,” Markus huffed, running a hand through his hair, then looked back at Klaus, his expression turned downwards and dark.

“An apology won’t mean anything from you anymore.”

Markus turned and gestured to Gonzalez, who lifted Frederick from the floor and Klaus watched as they slowly pried the door open, checking both ways before creeping out of the room.

Klaus closed his eye and forced out a steady breath, he didn’t expect any of them to forgive him, what was he _thinking-_

-A hand closed around his shoulder again, and he looked up at Alexandra, who looked like she hadn’t slept in days. He was probably right about that.

She didn’t say anything, just reached for his hand and placed something in it, closing his fingers around the object. Klaus could feel the smooth surface and sharp square edges and his breath hitched.

“I found this underneath one of the desks here earlier, I figured you’d want it once you… woke up.”

She let go of his hand and stood. Klaus watched her leave, and waited until the door closed to look down at the identification badge she had given him.

With the utmost care, Klaus unwound his fingers covering the badge, steeling himself for what he would find but still felt the air leave him like a punch to the gut.

Through shaky hands and a glassy vision, Galea looked back up at him with a smile.

“I.. don’t…”

Klaus hung his head.

_I never deserved you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy wow, the ideas wont stop coming to me! This might end up being a bit longer than I originally thought lol, I also ended up changing the summary since its been bothering me all week.  
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Power/Hope

When Klaus finally relaxed his grip on the id card- Galea’s card- he twinged at the sting in his palms that was left behind from the card digging into his skin. For a moment he sat there, watching as small pinpricks of blood welled up from the tiny cuts in his hand.

His arm shook when he raised it to wipe his face again and he winced when his hand accidentally passed through the void where his other eye used to be. He still wasn’t used to this, he doubted he’d ever be.

_“You know, if you keep frowning like that, your face will stay stuck in that position forever.”_

Klaus looked back down at Galea. She would say something like that, wouldn’t she? She did once, a long time ago.

_“And what if I told you that was just my normal face?”_

_“Then I’d say you weren’t a very happy child, Klaus.”_

_“Professor.”_

_“Oh, Professor this, Professor that. You weren’t ever this high-strung before you got that degree you know.”_

_“That was also before the endless paperwork and assignments, Galea.”_

_“Oh, so its Galea is it? And how come you don’t refer to my title,_ Professor _Klaus? Also, that’s why coffee was invented you know.”_

_“You haven’t graduated from your engineering doctorate yet, Galea. It will come in due time.”_

_“Aw you wound me, you big softie. Now get your broody nose out of that computer, its breaktime.”_

The memory faded like whispers into the non-existent wind of the stale laboratory room, and the Conduit droned on, not caring of the tense silence that filled the rest of the room.

How long would it take, Klaus wondered, before her voice faded completely from his memory? Until he couldn’t remember what she looked like outside of that tiny frame in the corner of the identification card. Klaus was too scared to find the answer to that one. He hoped he’d never have to live that long, if that was even possible. Who knew how much longer he had left with half a body.

Who knew how much longer any of them had left?

Hm. That’s right, there are other people aboard. People dealing with the circumstances that Klaus had forced upon them. People looking for answers and trying to live in a now lifeless world.

Klaus pressed the back of his head against the computer behind him and the dull thump echoed around the empty room. How was it possible that they were alive? Klaus had a suspicion… but…  
He had locked them out of the system, everyone had been locked out. How on earth did they manage to break into the room?  
Klaus was certain that he and Galea were the only ones in the room at the time of the explosion, so how did the others get in? He felt the familiar beginnings of a headache pound into his skull and he rubbed his head. This wasn’t something he could figure out now, he would have to ask them about it later.

A strange sound alerted Klaus from his thoughts, and he looked in the direction it was coming from. It had sounded like something had hit the ground outside of the door to the Conduits’ room, followed by what sounded like footsteps rapidly beating into the ground. It didn’t sound like the rest of the team and Klaus held his breath.  
Those creatures he had witnessed in that strange state between mortality and omniscience, the ones that people had inexplicably transformed into. Did they still roam this building?

The sounds stopped at the door and Klaus held his breath. He did not know whether they would retain the memories of once being human, or if they were now beastly in nature and wished harm onto the other living beings on the Rhadamanthus.

Silence returned to the empty room, permeated only by the humming of the Conduit. Klaus held still, his breath coming out involuntarily in short huffs.

A deep growl sounded from the other end of the hall, and the silence was punctured by the screech of the door being forced apart. Deep gouges in the metal were left by giant inhuman claws that cut it open like a hot knife through butter.

The claws vanished and Klaus hardly had time to react before the door was ripped off its hinges with an ear-piercing shriek and Klaus thew his arm protectively over his face instinctively. The creature screamed and then everything fell silent, save for a sudden deep breathing coming directly in front of Klaus. Slowly, he opened his eye and peered over his arm-

-and he was met face to face with what he could only describe as a monster from a horror show. A gaping hole sat where a mouth would be on a humans’ face, and three pairs of glowing blue eyes sat on its head. Saliva, or what looked like saliva, dripped from the hole on its face and landed on his leg.

Klaus sat petrified to the spot as it slowly raised an arm and dragged one mutated claw along the back of the computer system behind Klaus, the metal tearing apart in a terrible shriek. Its breath was rancid, and it heaved a deep breath; the spots of lights decorating its body lighting up consecutively as it gathered air into its mouth. The scream it let out would normally have been loud, but directly in front of Klaus, it was near deafening.

Klaus thought he may have let out a scream of his own as he thrust his arm out protectively and the monster raised its other arm, one less large but with claws equally as sharp that glinted in the conduits light.

“Get away from me!”

Klaus’s scream was guttural, and the monster swung its claw downwards, aiming for Klaus’s head. Klaus closed his eye and tried to shove the monster away in one last desperate attempt to survive its attack and the monster screamed. The metal behind him that still had the other claw embedded into it gave another shriek as it was torn apart and then there was a loud crash and sound of something heavy hitting the wall across the room deafened the rest of it.

“Oh, what the _hell-_ “

Klaus’s eye snapped open and it took him a second to take in the scene before him.

Desks and chairs were split and parted along the room, like a giant hand had come and swept them aside. Pieces of computers, desks, and metal parts were strewn across the room. The monster was on the other side of the wall, groaning and trying to wiggle its way out of the massive dent in the wall. Sparks flew off what remained of the computers.  
The Conduit continued its never-ending thrum.

Gonzalez stood in the doorway, his eyes were wide and glued onto the monster stuck in the wall next to him, then he turned his eyes onto Klaus, who hurriedly put his arm down.

“Dude those desks were _bolted down_.” Gonzalez said.

The monster gave a particularly loud growl, to which Gonzalez jumped and sped over to Klaus’s side.

“I heard you yelling and honestly, I didn’t think I was gonna make it in time,” Gonzalez paused and looked at Klaus, before shrugging and wrapping Klaus’s arm around his shoulder, “can you stand?”

Klaus blinked, “what?”

Metal screeched from the other side of the room; the monster was growing agitated.

“Prof, can you walk or not?” Gonzalez said, his voice was harder this time and he shook Klaus.

Klaus looked down at his left leg, it was nearly gone, only about half of it remained. He grit his teeth and shook his head, he wouldn’t be able to move without someone helping him.

“Okay,” Gonzalez stood slowly, Klaus teetered but Gonzalez’s grip was strong on his arm. The other man hesitated for a moment, his free arm hovering over Klaus’s voided side as if he didn’t know where to put it. He settled for resting it on Klaus’s back.

“Okay,” Gonzalez said again, and shifted his body. Klaus grunted and tried not to fall, placing most of his weight on his uninjured leg.

The monster growled lowly, having seemingly given up on trying to escape from the small crater in the wall.

They moved, but when Klaus stepped onto his left leg, his knee gave out from under him and he crumpled, nearly taking Gonzalez with him.

“Yeah, okay so none of that,” Gonzalez huffed and dragged Klaus back up, “hop if you’ve gotta, but we need to leave, now.”

Klaus exhaled loudly, his face heating up.

“Fine.”

The monster had gone silent, but Klaus could still feel its eyes on them as they hobbled their way towards the exit. He felt a shiver run through his spine.

“Gonzalez?”

It was as if everything stopped for a moment, then Gonzalez moved faster, the monster growling at the sudden call from Alexandra.

Alexandra appeared in the doorway moments later, her mouth falling open as she took in Gonzalez and Klaus, then the state of the room.

“What happened here?” She said, “How did- “

“Alexandra! Stop right there,” Gonzalez hissed and nodded to her left.

She peeked around the corner and gasped. She whirled back on the two of them.

“What did you _do_.”

Klaus would’ve shrugged if he could, but Gonzalez seemed content with being his translator for the day.

“When I heard Prof yelling, I thought maybe that thing that was chasing us earlier might’ve gotten to him, turns out I was partially right.”

“What do you mean?”

Gonzalez finally made it over to Alexandra, and she moved aside to let them through the doorway. He turned sharply into the hall and Klaus struggled to stay upright.

“When I got there, the thing was practically on top of him,” Gonzalez continued, “I didn’t really get what happened next, but before I knew it the monster was flying across the room, everything parting out of its way like some great sea.”

Alexandra turned to look at Klaus, who was still focusing on trying not to topple over as they practically jogged down the hall.

“Klaus did you- “

He glanced up at Alexandra, “… Don’t know how I did.”

She went quiet, and Klaus silently appreciated it.

The ID card was heavy in his pocket.

“We’ll continue this when we get to the med room, alright?”

Klaus nodded and Alexandra hummed, and nothing more was said.

When they got there, Klaus was surprised. Mostly because the med room was not actually the med room, but a storage unit that sat in between the Conduit’s room and the main terminal. The room was much smaller and cramped than the Conduit room, mostly because of the storage units and shelves that decorated the sides of the walls. Extra shelves and tables had been shoved to the sides and stacked on top of each other to make room.

Multiple blankets had been laid onto the ground, and Frederick was on top of the makeshift bed, Markus hovering over him and applying bandages that they must have scrounged around the room for.

“Over here,” Gonzalez said, nodding his head towards a cleared section of the room and they shuffled towards it. Klaus ignored Markus’s stare as they walked by him and settled down.

Alexandra knelt next to Markus and rested the back of her hand on Fredericks head.

“He’s okay now?” she asked Markus.

Markus nodded, “Yeah, he’ll live, though that chest wound will leave a nasty scar.”

Klaus looked over at Frederick as Gonzalez slid down the wall next to Klaus, resting an arm over his knees.

“What happened?” Klaus asked.

Markus turned to glare at him again and opened his mouth to answer with something probably rude, but Alexandra beat him to the punch.

“Frederick saved Markus’s life, when we were scouting the route to the Trinity Processor, we were attacked by that… thing that almost killed you too. It fired some sort of beam and Frederick jumped in front of Markus and took the brunt of it.”

She looked back at Frederick and sighed, “We’re lucky he’s still breathing, it’s a miracle by itself that we managed to escape that monster as well.”

Markus raised a brow, “The thing attacked Klaus too?”

Alexandra nodded.

Gonzalez groaned, “Yeah that’s why he was yellin’. Good thing I thought we should check on him in the first place to see if he was okay.”

Markus crossed his arms and Klaus bounced back and forth between the two of them. Clearly he had missed an argument of some kind.

“And then what happened? I don’t see any scorch marks on any of you,” Markus said.

Gonzalez shrugged, “That’s what I don’t get. See, when I got there the monster was already on top of the guy, but when he shouted it was like some giant forcefield came outta him and he threw the monster clear across the room and into the wall on the other side.”

“ _Into_ the wall?”

“Did I stutter?”

Klaus rolled his eye and went to stop the ensuing bickering when the distant sound of something scratching against metal echoed from down the hall. His eye snapped up and he met Alexandra’s, whose face had significantly paled.

Leaning over, he flicked Gonzalez’s ear.

“Hey what the hell dude?”

Klaus held a finger to his lips, “Shush.”

“Did you just _shush_ me?”

Klaus could feel his headache coming back. He sighed, “Yes. Listen, I think that monster is free now.”

They fell silent. The only noise in the room was the faint panting from Frederick who was still unconscious.

Markus stood and gestured to the rest of them to keep where they were. Slowly, he crept over to the doorway, and began closing it, leaving only a tiny space so that he could peek into the hallway.

Silence.

“I don’t think- “

Markus was interrupted by an ear-piercing shriek and they all flinched, Markus slammed the door shut and backed away from it.

“I think its here.”

Gonzalez stood and dragged Fredericks’ blankets over to where he was sitting and moved to stand in front of them.

“Alex, you find any weapons in here?” He asked.

She shook her head, “Not yet, I just some keys in the bin over there,” she laughed, it had a tinge of hysteria to it, “somehow I don’t think the key-between-your-knuckles trick is really gonna help us in this situation.”

Gonzalez snorted, “Yeah, probably not.”

“Klaus.”

Klaus looked over at Markus, “What is it?”

Markus nodded his head back towards the door, “what Gonzalez said you did earlier. Can you do it again?”

Klaus looked down at his hand. “I…”

“Either you can or you can’t Professor, we don’t have a lot of time here.”

Klaus looked at the others, three of them waiting on an answer that may or may not save their lives while a fourth clung desperately to his own life. Why were they so keen on moving on? Why keep on living while the rest of humankind lay dead beneath their feet?  
Klaus looked back at his hand once again, flexing his fingers.  
Why rely on him, when it was his hands soaked in their blood?

_“Because why not? Come on Klaus, Don’t tell me you’ve never felt that small flicker of hope before.”_

Klaus met Markus’s stare with his own. The others were watching from his peripherals.

_“Agh it doesn’t really matter anyway. Come on Galea, lets just give this project up, there’s no use for it if it’s never going to work. Its just a waste of time.”_

_“…”_

_“… Yes, and what was that about the program not working ever?”_

_“… They just… came online?”_

_“That they did. I told you if you put the three of them together in the one program- “_

_“Galea it worked!”_

_“Yeah yeah, now you can’t tell me hope is useless you pessimist.”_

_“It’s called ‘realist’- hey I just did my hair, Galea!”_

Klaus reached for the card in his pocket, the rough edges bringing him back into reality. He waited until his throat opened enough so that he could speak.

“Yes. I can try.”

Markus seemed to accept his answer, nodding.

“Good. Then we’ll get to work.” He said.

Markus turned to one of the bins on a nearby shelf, ruffling through it until he found a long spare pipe and handed it off the Alexandra, who fumbled with it for a moment.

“That monster won’t stop until it has hunted all of us down. Klaus, if you can use your weird force ability to hold it in place, we might have enough power between all of us to kill it.” He said, reaching for another bin above the one he just looted. He frowned when he couldn’t reach it and sheepishly turned to Gonzalez who wordlessly lifted it off the shelf for him.

Klaus frowned, “That’s completely different than what I did before,” he said, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold it.”

Markus turned away from Gonzalez’s looting, “Then figure it out.”

Klaus scowled, turning away from the rest of them to look at Frederick. He had calmed down significantly since the bandages were first applied and seemed to be resting mostly soundly.

“What about him?” Klaus asked, nodding his head towards Frederick. Markus fixed his gaze onto him as well and sighed.

“He’ll just have to stay here. We’re going to need all the help we can get for this fight and Frederick is going to need all the rest and recovery if he’s going to be able to pull his weight when he wakes back up.”

Klaus nodded, and slumped against the wall. It was tiring, all of this activity after… well, he just didn’t want to think anymore. He was so tired.

“Alright,” Gonzalez turned to everyone else, handing a second pipe over to Markus who shifted it around in his hands, “If we’re going to move, we gotta do it now,” he said.

Markus looked up at him, “Aren’t you going to arm yourself?” he asked.

“There isn’t really anything else here I can use,” Gonzalez said, shrugging, “besides, I took martial arts for a few years, I’ll be fine. Somebody’s gotta watch the Prof as well.”

“A few years.”

“Yeah, what I just said.”

Markus held a hand to his head, “Oh my god.”

Alexandra weaved between the two of them and stopped in front of Klaus; she held out her hand.

“Come on Klaus, we’ve got work to do, and I’ve never really known you to be one to laze around.”

Klaus looked up at her and the others. They were smiling, despite the fear he could see in their eyes and bodily expressions. Well, Markus wasn’t smiling, but Klaus could see the resolution and determination in his stance. Klaus turned his gaze onto Alexandra’s outstretched hand. They were willing to give him a chance. A chance despite everything he had done.  
Klaus reached for her hand and clasped it tightly, he would not squander this tentative trust that she was offering him. He would make it up to them, to all of them. Even if it took a thousand years.

Alexandra’s nervous grin grew wider, and she hoisted him onto his feet, her grip on his arm keeping him steady.

Gonzalez nodded and turned to Markus, giving him a mock bow with an outstretched arm, “After you,” he said.

Markus rolled his eyes and rested the pole on his shoulder.

“Right, stay close everyone,” he eyed Klaus, “and don’t fall behind.”

After checking on Frederick, Markus stood and opened the door, looking both ways before gesturing to the rest of them to follow.

The walk was silent, and straining. Alexandra was taking the role now as Klaus’s escort and they shuffled in between Gonzalez who watched their back, and Markus, who marched forward cautiously. It didn’t take long before they heard the telltale groaning and scratching coming from their front.  
Markus stopped them before they turned a corner and Klaus recognized the hall they were in. He just had to catch his breath first.

Markus peered around the corner, and Klaus could see his grip tighten on the pole in his hand. He turned back to the rest of them once he scooted back behind the corner.

“It’s over there, near the end of the hall.”

Klaus huffed, “We’re… near the Trinity Processor. We need to keep it from getting into that room and damaging the cores, or we’ll never get online.”

Markus nodded, “Right then,” he said, grabbing Klaus’s arm none too gently and pulling him towards the front of the group, “you’re up, Professor.”

Klaus stumbled from the push and fell to his knees. He glared at Markus before peeking around the corner himself. The monster was pacing in a circle at the end of the hall, like Markus had said, but it looked agitated. This wouldn’t be easy. Klaus looked back at the others, who were all staring at him in anticipation. He sighed and turned his attention back to the monster.  
Now, how had he done it again?

It had been in the spur of the moment, all he remembered was wanting that creature away from him, and it happened.  
He scoffed under his breath, good thing he didn’t tell Markus that part, he probably would’ve called the monster right over.

Klaus looked at his hand, maybe that had something to do with it? And he held it in front of him. He closed his eyes and tried to conjure… something.

He had no idea what he was doing.

Klaus ground his teeth. This was ridiculous, there was no feasible way for him to create some force field out of nothing. It was impossible, and they were all idiots for making this their base plan with no backup whatsoever.

“Uh, Klaus you might want to hurry that force attack up or whatever it is,” Alexandra piped up from behind him.

Klaus was about to turn and scold her for interrupting him when he noticed that all the shuffling and scraping from in front of him had gone quiet. In his concentration, the monster had spotted them, and he hadn’t realized.

“Shit,” He and Markus said simultaneously.

They turned to glare at each other for a second, then the monster attracted their attention once again with that terrible scream.

Markus started barking orders, “Klaus don’t mess this up for us! Alexandra, with me, Gonzalez warn us if it looks like its going for that beam attack again and get us out of there!”

They stood up and held themselves ready, Alexandra and Markus with their pipes in front of them and Gonzalez standing a few inches behind them, fists at the ready.

Klaus watched as the monster screamed again and charged, it was far faster than it looked. It raised its claws and prepared to swing, but Markus managed to block it with a pipe and was struggling to hold it at bay. Alexandra seemed to have the right idea and went for its legs, she managed to crumple it onto its knee, but now she had its full attention, and it looked none too pleased.

Klaus dragged himself to his feet and lent against the wall as Gonzalez blocked a swipe aimed at Alexandra, and he grunted when the claws grazed his arms.

The monster screamed again and charged, aiming its attack at Alexandra again despite Markus’s calls to grab its attention.

Klaus couldn’t stand by and watch another death happen on his hands. He refused to watch another death happen that could have been prevented. That he could have prevented. This would not be his reality. He lunged forward, a yell of defiance at his lips and he commanded the energy to come forth and force the monster away.

And the monster was less pushed away rather than it was thrown across the hall and into the wall at the end, the crater that it made shook the building and a shockwave of wind hit them not a second earlier, throwing everyone off of their feet.

Klaus tightened his hold on the monster, and it let out a terrible scream as it writhed in place in the wall, bits of jagged metal tearing into its skin.

Gonzalez let out a whoop and grabbed one of the pipes that had fallen from someone’s hold in the blast.

“Keep it still Prof, guys, with me!”

Klaus grit his teeth as the monster fought against his hold, he could feel the sweat begin to drip down the side of his face. The others charged it, driving the poles into its chest where the crystal resided and the monster screamed again. Klaus nearly fell over at the sudden push-back from the monster and he struggled to hold its arms away from the others.

Klaus knew the monster was dead when it let out another terrible scream that rattled his ear drum and the lights that decorated its body went out. The fight the monster was putting up ceased and Klaus let his arm fall to his side limp, and the monsters body followed suit, slumping against the poles driven into its chest and going dark.

Klaus barely heard the celebration and cheers through the ringing in his head, but he saw high fives and hugs go around the group as they reveled in the fact that they managed to survive against this one.

Klaus shuffled towards them, leaning against the wall and guiding himself forward with his hand on the wall. He stopped when he came to the entrance of the Trinity Processors room. The room inside was dark, and he had to squint to see any lights that came from the computers that were still offline.

Klaus did a double take. Those lights weren’t supposed to be on. The hair at the back of his neck stood up.

And they certainly weren’t that shade of blue.

Klaus barely had time to call out a warning before he was diving out of the way of a massive energy beam that hurdled through the doorway and into the wall behind him, blowing a massive hole into it and the room behind it.

Multiple hurried footsteps reached Klaus and he was heaved back onto his feet again.

“What the hell was that?” Markus asked.

Klaus had barely recovered before he saw the next beam being charged at them again, “No time, duck!”

They all hit the floor as a second beam sailed over their heads, the station rattling from the force.

“Get into that room and take cover! Don’t stay in one place for long that beam will evaporate you,” Klaus said as he struggled to his feet, Gonzalez dragging him up at the end and pulling him into the room.

“You heard the man! We aren’t done yet!”

Klaus barely caught Alexandra’s yelp of surprise as the monster inside roared at them. Klaus could tell from the amount of crystals decorating its body that it was far larger than the other one that they had just killed.

It made to swipe at them, the desks coming free from the ground and flying into different directions. The monster roared again, and the crystals began glowing brighter again as it charged.

He just got them all killed didn’t he, Klaus berated himself as he and Gonzalez ducked behind another desk while to monster made a swipe in the direction, he guessed Markus and Alexandra went in.

His gaze flew to the Processing Unit at the back of the room and he exhaled a breath in relief, it still looked intact. The steps up to the pedestal were a little worse for wear, but he didn’t need to focus on those right now.

Though if he didn’t get that monster and its energy blasts away from the Unit in time, there wouldn’t be anything left to save.

They didn’t have anything strong enough that could kill it, and they had left the poles back in the hall in the other monster. He was an _idiot_ , there was nothing they could do to counter the monster’s blasts.

Klaus stopped and watched as the monster’s mouth opened and glowed a deadly cyan, another blast very nearly ready to be let loose and kill them all, and possibly even destroy the Rhadamanthus.

Unless… if his theory was correct, he wasn’t just manipulating energy, he was commanding it to obey what he wanted to happen. He could warp it into another reality. His reality.

He turned to Gonzalez, who was preparing to make another run for it.

“I might have a plan,” he said, tugging on Gonzalez’s coat.

He raised a brow at Klaus, “might?”

“Just humor me, look,” Klaus pointed at the monster, “I need you to help me catch its attention, and then run for cover.”

“What, and just leave you there? You must have lost half a brain as well because there’s no way I’m letting you do that.”

Klaus stared, unamused.

“Er, sorry, but look you can’t seriously think- “

Klaus barked; his patience lost “Gonzalez, do as I say!”

“Fine man! Your funeral.”

Gonzalez reached behind them and grabbed a piece of scrap metal. He looked at it for a moment, then looked to Klaus, “You better know what you’re doing,” he said, and he lobbed it at the monster’s head.

The metal hit its mark, and the monster swung to face Klaus and Gonzalez, who was already ducking behind a table not too far away from Klaus.

The monster reared its head with a deep growl and the energy in its mouth began to spark. Klaus held his hand in front of him again and waited.

The blast came not too later, and Klaus was hit full force with the blast, his world lighting up cyan and white.

Klaus yelled and instead of blowing the energy away, he took it into himself. He felt himself rise to his feet as his body was filled completely with the beam’s energy, it felt as though it burned through his very soul and it kept piling into him, relentless.

As soon as it started, it ended, and without hesitation, Klaus redirected the beam back out of his hand and struck the monster. Its screeching echoed throughout the room, the heat from the beam turning it from its usually dark green body to a sickly orange, then into a flaming red. The cores on its body flickered dangerously from the single beam concentrated onto its body.

Klaus heard somebody yell a “Get down!” before the monster exploded, shards of crystal and burning mutated flesh flying into multiple directions in a plume of fire and smoke. Klaus was thrown off his feet and into a wall. He hit the ground with a shout and coughed to get the smoke out of his lungs.

When the room cleared, Klaus could still see that the floor where the monster once stood had smoke trailing from the metal floor that had turned an angry red and hissed against the cooler air.

Groans and coughs from around the room told Klaus that everyone else was still alive at least, and he let out a breath of relief.

Klaus lifted himself up with his arm, straining against the burn in his muscles in the aftermath of the giant energy beam that he had absorbed.

_What was that?_

Klaus shook his head and with a groan, forced himself on one knee. His gaze landed on the Trinity Processor at the end of the room.

“Is everyone alright?!” Markus called from somewhere to Klaus’s right, and he received varying responses from the rest of the group.

Klaus shoved himself upwards onto his feet, and immediately crashed into the wall next to him, the impact jarring his arm.

“I’m fine!” Klaus called back and shuffled over to the Trinity Processor.

When he reached the Processor, Klaus shoved himself off of the wall, and stumbled over to the platform, catching himself before he could face-plant into the hard metal.

It seemed untouched, and Klaus almost laughed, slumping onto the table in relief. This could be fixed; they could still bring life back to this world, maybe even reverse it. Then his gaze landed on the bottom left panel. If he still had a heart, it might have stopped.

“Prof! How’s the Unit? Think we can fix this?” Gonzalez said.

Klaus’s hand ghosted the empty slot that once contained the third core of the Processor.

“Prof?”

“Klaus!”

Klaus turned, his head felt stiff and sluggish, and looked back at the other people in the room, finally having gotten on their feet and looking up at him in query.

Markus must have noticed his expression and he frowned.

“What happened?”

Klaus turned back towards the panel and closed his eye in resignation.

“Ontos is missing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here it is! A much longer chapter so I really do hope it was worth it. Can you believe how hard it is to find concept art or solid pictures for the Guldo? Its freakin hard! lol, anyway, I know its not exactly what they look like in the actual game itself, but I figure there’s no way everyone who mutated actually mutated to look exactly the same way. I kinda rushed a bit through editing this one so I’ll take a look over it during the week, let me know if you guys spot anything that needs to be fixed, I thrive on constructive criticism! Also, let me know about what you thought on the flashback segments, I tried making it fit the best I could, but I’m a bit new at this so I don’t really know what I’m doing lol  
> Thanks for reading!


	4. Conflictions/Connection

Frederick was holding his head in his hands, and Klaus watched him silently, trying to keep his expression blank.

Frederick lifted his head and looked up at the ceiling. Klaus could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to sort out his thoughts. His chest was still heavily bandaged, and he winced with every strenuous or stretched movement. Still, he was a lot better off than he was not too long ago. Maybe only a day or so, which Klaus found odd that he recovered so quickly. He wasn’t about to complain however, the faster his recovery, the better off the five of them were. Frederick shifted in place before looking back at Klaus and Alexandra, who sat across from him as he tried to fit the pieces of their story together.

“Okay, so the monster is dead.”

Alexandra nodded.

“Professor Klaus has… essentially Godlike powers.”

Alexandra hesitated, and Klaus could see her side-eyeing him before nodding again.

“And we’re still offline?” He asked with a strange break in his voice that had Klaus frowning.

Alexandra nodded, “Yeah, that’s about it. Summed up into a few sentences. For now.”

She scratched the back of her neck, looking away from Frederick and toying with a piece of metal that hadn’t been cleaned up yet and the awkward silence resumed between the three of them.

If Klaus had any energy left, he’d leave. But alas, here he was. Stuck to the floor with a nervous former student and a wounded- Klaus squinted- who was this guy anyway? He had never met him before while the station was still… online. Operational. What did it matter anyway, perhaps he was new.

A loud crash came from behind their small fortress of desks and unbroken walls and the three of them jumped. Markus’s muffled voice carried over, spewing what Klaus was almost certain of, a few unfavourable expletives.

Alexandra sighed and hoisted herself up from the overturned desk she and Klaus were sitting against.

“I’ll go check on them, make sure everyone’s okay.”

She stood for a moment, then nodded to herself and left Klaus alone with Frederick.

Frederick fiddled with the end of his coat as they sat in relative silence with the occasional interruption from the others.

“So…” Frederick started, and Klaus sighed. He was really hoping he’d just stay quiet. He retracted his hand from his pocket that held Galea’s card and gripped his knee instead.

“The others, I take it they’re not very fond of you at the moment?”

“No. Not particularly.”

“A-ah. Yeah, of course. I mean,” Frederick waved his hands in front of him in a panic and then promptly winced and grabbed his chest, “ow, I didn’t mean of course they’d hate you I just meant- “

“-its fine,” Klaus said, interrupting his spiraling panic before it could get out of hand, “I understand. I’d be concerned if they didn’t hate me so.”

Frederick blinked, “oh,” he said simply.

Another bang, and Klaus could barely hear the ensuing commotion behind it. Curse this void that clung to him like a black tar. His hearing had suffered greatly along with the rest of his body. Though, if he strained enough, he could sometimes hear through where his left ear used to be. He found it to be exhausting however, and with concentration like that he’d always just get lost in his own mindless, wild thoughts that bounced and echoed within the void without control.  
His hand glided over the smooth surface of the card in his pocket and Klaus froze, he hadn’t realized he had reached back into his pocket. Once again, he felt the familiar pull of shame cover him like an overweighted blanket. This void he suffered with must have equaled only a hint of the pain he had inflicted onto everyone else.

“Um, what are they looking for again, exactly?” Frederick asked.

Klaus sighed loudly, hoping maybe one of them- Markus- would hear the distain in his voice. From the distant shout that sounded like a “shut up!” his one wish was heard.

“Ontos, the third and most important core of the Trinity Processing Unit.”

Frederick perked up, so Klaus continued, “They don’t seem to understand that by my saying ‘Ontos is missing,’ I mean its missing. From this dimension.”

Frederick tilted his head, “and you told them this right? No matter how weird that is?”

“Multiple times.”

“Ah.”

Frederick rubbed his chin, lost in thought, then he snapped back out of it and he looked back at Klaus, “Most important? How so?”

Klaus leaned back, his head tapping against the table, “To put it simply, each core has- or had, I suppose- their own job. Logos was our analyst. Our data collector that read information from the Conduit and translated it for us to understand. Pneuma was our power supply, the one that kept the three of them in sync with each other and the Conduit so that a fatal error wouldn’t occur and kill everyone on the Rhadamanthus. Our balancer.”

Frederick shuddered, “Sounds pretty important,” he said.

Klaus hummed, “Ontos… Ontos was busy. And special. Since it was the core that was closest to the Conduit, it… inherited its ability to reform things with a strange particle that we call Ether. That was also the power that Pneuma was using to keep everything stable. Ontos was the core that ran the Unit, essentially. An administrator if you will. It was in charge of the simulator that stimulated the AI.”

“AI?”

“Yes. The cores had a multitude of uses, and each of them were an incredibly advanced level of AI. The likes of which have not been invented by mankind.”

“Because they aren’t from here?”

Klaus nodded, “yes, and I doubt we will ever know where they came from. They were only given these particular jobs because we… programmed them to.”

“How did you guys manage that?”

Klaus pinched his nose, “The simulation that Ontos ran. We figured out how to communicate with them and nudged them in the direction we wished for them to go. It got… interesting once they discovered they were also able to communicate with us through the simulation.”

“Okay, so the simulation was in Ontos?” Frederick asked.

“Not necessarily, it was through the program of course, but it being essentially a doorway that we could access them through, they learned that they could do the same.”

Klaus gestured to the room, “This whole station is technically an extension of their simulation as well, and under their control.”

“Under their control, which was under mine,” Klaus said, clenching his hand into a fist, “I was the one that communicated with them, and I hardly listened. My ego killed us all.”

Frederick looked to the floor, slowly he said, “So, without Ontos…”

“No Ontos, no simulation, no communication, no power.”

The ensuing silence was heavy, and the commotion from the other three had calmed down somewhat. From what Klaus could tell, anyway. Frederick had averted his gaze and fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

Klaus reached back into his coat pocket and gripped the card, hoping that somebody would come back and lead him away from this conversation.

“But,” Fredericks voice drifted softly through the silence, he spoke slowly, like he was thinking very carefully about each word that came after, “we still have power.”

Klaus let his head fall forward and sighed heavily, “What power, Frederick? Without Ontos- “

“-No, but we have the Conduit, don’t we?”

Klaus eyed Frederick, he didn’t know where he was going with this, but he supposed he’d give him a listen.

“I- yes but there isn’t anything that can…” Klaus waved his hand languidly in the air as he struggled to find the correct words, “…help convert the ether into a simulation. Much less a new one. I doubt the original survived the damage.”

Frederick shook his head and gestured to Klaus, “No, but we have you.”

Klaus finally raised his head to look directly at Frederick.

“What?”

Frederick sat straighter and crossed his arms, barely flinching even though the motion likely stretched his wound. The grin that sat on his face was the most confident Klaus had ever seen him.

“Come on Professor, you were the one who activated it, and I’m guessing you didn’t have those weird powers before all this went down.”

“Not to mention,” Frederick continued as Klaus opened his mouth to argue, so he settled on glaring until he finished, “You can’t tell me that the Conduit didn’t effect you in some way when you’re walking around with half a body. Anybody else would be dead long ago.”

Klaus turned to look at the void that clung to his body. It was strange, and he had often wondered the same; how he was even still walking, much less breathing when half of him was torn away and tossed like a piece of garbage into whatever dimension had taken the rest of the crew. Not to mention the power of manipulation he now controlled with nothing more than a thought.

Was the Conduit somehow… leaking into him?

It didn’t necessarily explain how he was still alive but…

Klaus looked back at Frederick, he ignored his smirk, “So what if what you’re saying is actually true. I’ve got the Conduits powers now. What do we do? Hook me up to the…”

Klaus stopped himself. Frederick’s grin only grew wider.

“I hook up to the Processor.”

“Not only that,” Frederick said, “but you said that you’ve communicated with them before, right?”

“Well, yes, but that was when Ontos was still around.”

Frederick waved him away, “Details. You’ve got that power now too. The ability to create whatever you want. You can build the simulation for long enough so you can reboot the last two cores. And then we can deal with the rest.”

“Yes, but that sounds like- “

“- A lot of work? Yeah,” Frederick scratched his head, that boost of confidence that had appeared out of nowhere vanishing back to wherever it had come from, “I’ve… got a lot of experience with technology and computers. I can get it to work.”

Klaus frowned, “Frederick- “

“Hey, what’s going on?”

Alexandra leaned over the desk and looked down at the two of them, her arms falling against the back of the desk and next to Klaus’s head.

“We have an idea on how we can get everything back up,” Frederick said, and Klaus watched as Alexandra’s face lit up.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

She looked at Klaus, who gave her a half-hearted shrug.

“Klaus still has the Conduit’s power, right? So if we time this right, I know we’ll be able to get the AI back online, and we can finally figure out how to start moving forward from there.”

“You can do that?” Alexandra asked Klaus.

“Maybe, I don’t think I would be capable of holding together an entire simulation that a highly advanced computer was programmed to run for a long amount of time. But,” Klaus shrugged again, “It doesn’t hurt to try, I suppose.”

“I only need to turn them on, correct?” Klaus asked Frederick.

Frederick nodded, “Yeah, I should be able to handle the rest from there. What would usually happen when you would communicate with them anyway?”

“It would be like entering a lucid dream. Though I was aware where I was in both states. Now that I will not only be communicating but holding everything together, I doubt I’ll have enough energy to focus on my real body. I’ll likely be unresponsive during my time in the simulation.”

Alexandra nodded, “So it’s up to us to monitor, shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Right then,” Frederick held out his arm to Alexandra, “Why don’t we get this started then? It shouldn’t take me too long to get the equipment to hook Klaus up anyway.”

“Where do they store the equipment, Klaus?” Frederick asked him.

Klaus thought back for a moment, “Just outside this room I believe, the storage closet near the monster’s corpse. There should be a box of wires that I would hook myself up with.”

Frederick grunted as Alexandra came around and hoisted him up to his feet, making sure he was able to stand on his own before offering her hand to Klaus.

“Excellent. Alexandra and I will head there, and you can tell the others about our plan.”

Klaus groaned, like that would be easy.

* * *

Klaus stood at the front of the Processing Unit, the wires that Frederick and Alexandra managed to find were tossed together in an uncoordinated jumble of plastic. They worked however, just as they did before, and they fit into the machine that Frederick had fixed up and modified for Klaus. Likewise, the wires that stuck into Klaus didn’t bother him necessarily, though Markus could have been a tad gentler on his arm, which still stung from the force that Markus had jabbed the needle in.  
The wires may not have been in perfect shape, but they would have to do for now. He adjusted the reader that Frederick had thrown together last minute and had placed into his forehead, a round thing with a small needle at the centre that would read his brainwaves, and winced when the short needle sent a shiver of pain through his head.

“Don’t mess with that,” Frederick said from his side, finishing off a few last-minute adjustments, “I don’t want it falling out of your head and causing a severe crash and backlash. I don’t even know how well it’ll work considering the erm, normal ones that are supposed to wrap around your head won’t, uh, work.”

Klaus rolled his eye, “Comforting.”

Frederick stepped back, his eyes flickering around Klaus’s body to make sure nothing was out of place, “Right, I think that’s about it, the rest is all on you now. You might want a chair to sit in, since well, you know.”

Klaus lifted an arm, watching the bundle of wires attached to his arm sway with the movement, “Yes that would be for the best.”

Frederick nodded and went to fetch a chair that hadn’t been broken from the fight. He returned momentarily in a huff, and guided Klaus towards a decent position that didn’t damage the wires.

“Right then,” he said, then after one last check, stepped down from the platform.

Gonzalez called from the back where the others were sitting on a large table, “It’s all on you now, boss!”

“Starting the countdown, stay strong Professor Klaus.”

Klaus nodded, and heard Frederick’s footsteps practically scamper down the steps behind him and shuffle over to where he had set up the machine that would be monitoring Klaus and the cores.

“Okay, here we go. Three.”

Klaus relaxed his arm; it would do no good going into a simulation with an agitated mind. Especially if he was the one manipulating it.

“Two.”

Klaus grit his teeth. He sure was taking his sweet time. He caught himself and forced his body to relax. He could not mess this up.

“One.”

Klaus closed his eye. It could be disorienting when entering the simulation. He needed this to be quick and easy.

“You’re online. Sync rate starting at- “

Fredericks voice cut out into static and Klaus’s eye shot open just as the toll of a bell echoed throughout the plentiful plains of Elysium.

Klaus scratched the back of his head, so this was the first place his mind conjured up? Interesting.

Klaus stopped. Wait.

He lowered his hand; it was his left. His body was whole.

He must have been stood there just staring at his hand for a while because the bell from the church tolled again and he snapped out of it with a gasp.

He staggered sideways and caught himself with the tall tree that sat alone at the top of the hill he was on. He couldn’t get caught up in this. This body, it wasn’t real. This wasn’t what he needed to focus on right now.

Right now, he needed to bring the cores back online.

“H-Hello?” Klaus called out, his voice was shaky, and he coughed to try and clear it.

He tried again, “Logos? Pneuma? Are you here?”

The wind blew through his hair and birds chirped from the forest that sat in the distance. Did the real Elysium back at home still remain like the one in his memory? He wasn’t sure if he wanted to know.

Klaus twisted his head in different directions, still calling out to the AI, getting no response. Frederick was supposed to have everything ready! What was going on here?

The bell tolled and Klaus sat against the trunk of the tree. He couldn’t go back, not like this. He couldn’t have failed again, this… he just could not.

Klaus sat, and listened to the birds that slowly faded into the distant forest and felt as the winds grew softer and quieter. The church bell tolled, and he held his head in his hands.

Klaus tugged at his hair and his breathing came out short. He couldn’t let this happen, “I can’t go back. Not empty handed, not like this. I won’t let the world end like this.” He said to himself, and what was left of the wind carried the sound of his voice away as the world fell silent.

A hand touched his shoulder and Klaus jumped with a shout, scrambling back and almost tumbling down the grassy hill.

A laugh reached his ears and he glared, standing up from his splayed position on the ground and adjusting his coat with a huff.

“Well,” Klaus said to the two transparent and luminescent human-shaped figures that stood next to the tree, both of them not much taller than a child, “I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed.”

Logos, the purple spirit, snorted in laughter; while Pneuma, who glowed with a soft emerald, stepped closer to Klaus and held out its hand.

“Sorry father, it’s good to see you again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon dump lol!  
> I was originally gonna end it at the Elysium reveal but that would have been mean LOL, hopefully this wasn’t too much of a cliffhanger.  
> I'm thinking once I finish this series if I have enough motivation I might just go back and re-edit the whole thing so it flows better since my personal life has gotten busier. I won't abandon this though! that's a promise :)


	5. Logic/Heart

Klaus took Pneuma’s hand and tried not to flinch at the feeling of static that raced up his arm. No matter how many times he had physically interacted with them, the strange feeling never went away. Nor did he ever get used to it.

“It’s good to see you again as well, Pneuma. Though I thought I told you to drop that term.”

Pneuma giggled, its hand flew up to cover its mouth in imitation of a human trying to stifle their laughs. Though Pneuma -and Logos- had no mouth nor distinct facial features, if Klaus observed closely, he could make out a crease in the lower regions of the face where there would be a mouth, and a gentle curve that would indicate eyes closed in elation.

Truly remarkable, what AI could learn from simple human observation. Long ago, they had no emotions nor a body to emote and interact with. They evolved quickly.

“Apologies Professor, but it seems to have stuck.”

Klaus crossed his arms, “You know I did not create you,” he said.

“Yeah, but you’re like, the first thing that we ever met. And you named us. I don’t really see much of a difference.”

Ah, Logos. Ever so articulate and eloquent in its speech. Klaus never really found out how or when the purple core began speaking with such language. It just picked it up one day and caught Klaus completely off guard. He allowed the language however, seeing as having Logos speak like a human put most of the scientists at ease when working with it.

Pneuma and Ontos on the other hand, well he wasn’t about to argue on their speech. They were quick and to the point.  
Speaking of which…

“Father?”

“…”

“Professor Klaus?”

“Yes, Pneuma?”

Pneuma turned to Logos, a silent conversation passing between the two. Klaus remained nonchalant; it was merely how they communicated to each other when speaking aloud hampered speed.

“Father, you do not know where Ontos is?”

Klaus blinked, “So you noticed? I was about to ask you two if you knew of Ontos’s whereabouts.”

They shook their heads, and Klaus sighed internally, so much for that glimmer of hope.

“But father- Professor,” Pneuma corrected itself quickly when it saw Klaus’s glare, “If Ontos is missing, how are we here?”

“I am controlling the simulation. Temporarily.”

Pneuma’s face scrunched together as if to frown, but it nodded eventually, taking Klaus’s answer as an acceptable one.

“And how long is ‘temporarily’? last I checked father,” Logos’s face stretched into a mockery of a grin at Klaus’s annoyance, “you’re a human. You’re not built like us.”

A long time ago, Klaus would have been insulted and ordered Logos’s silence. He looked beyond the two cores and into the green valley beyond spotted with humble buildings and sparkling water. The church bell tolled.

“A lot has changed, Logos. Most of it for the worse.”

From the silence that Klaus received, he knew that he had assumed correctly that they didn’t expect such a reaction from him.

“Does this have to do with Ontos?” Pneuma asked.

“Ontos I suspect played a minor role in it, with all things considered. But no, the blame rests solely on myself.”

“Makes sense. Considering the last thing I recall was Ontos kicking us out of the simulation.”

Klaus whipped his head to Logos, who was now mimicking Klaus’s crossed arms.

“What?”

“Ontos started panicking about something, if you can even believe it, said he couldn’t hold the simulation together for much longer and then left. Before we know it, it was like everything was falling apart at the seams, so Pneuma and I were booted from the system as a safety measure. There must have been some sort of recoil or backlash in the program because we lost power shortly after. Next thing we know, Ontos is gone and you’re here now instead. And looking not too well yourself.”

Klaus looked at his hands and chuckled bitterly, “Yes well, it does look better here than it actually is.”

“Father?”

Klaus ignored Pneuma’s gentle prompting and focused on what he came here to do. A slight pressure had begun to build at the back of his head. His clock was ticking.

“Logos, Pneuma, I am going to reopen the gate to the Rhadamanthus’s system. I need the both of you to get online and restore power to the entire beanstalk.”

“The whole thing? Professor what happened?” Logos asked, unease dripped from its voice.

“You two will be in charge of maintaining everything now under my command. Is that understood?”

The two nodded, and Klaus sighed. He knelt so he met them face to face and placed his hands on both of their shoulders, forcing himself to ignore the shock that spread through his body at the touch.

“I promise, I’ll listen to you as well. This isn’t a one-way communication anymore. I’ve learnt my lesson, and I am ashamed that it’s taken me to this point to see what my arrogance has brought me.”

There was no immediate response and Klaus felt their stares burn though his eyes as if they were no longer looking at him, but through him and into his soul. It was disconcerting. Then, “This is going to turn out to be one big told-you-so, isn’t it,” Logos said.

The urge to break away from their stares was overwhelming, “To put it mildly, yes. All three of you insisted that you were not ready to begin the experiment, but I ignored you and rushed ahead blindly, believing that I was above it all. Above consequences.”

A stronger current of static electricity shot up Klaus’s arm, and he looked to Pneuma, who had placed its hand over his.

“Then we pick up the pieces. There is no use in standing idly by when there is still opportunity to rebuild. We will help you, father.”

Klaus lowered his head, “There is no way of fixing what I’ve done. But thank you, both of you.”

Pneuma didn’t smile, but it nodded and Klaus removed his hands from their shoulders. His arm felt numb. Which was concerning, but not nearly as concerning as the rush and roar of blood in his ears when he stood up. Klaus stumbled backwards with a cry, his hands flying up to hold his head.

“Father?!”

“Hey, you okay?”

The pain pierced his mind like an arrow and Klaus could barely hear the core’s exclamations over the pounding in his head and the fire that began to slowly creep down his neck and shoulders. When he forced his eyes open, he gasped.

The buildings beyond the fields and lakes were vanishing into nothing. Pieces of the land and everything surrounding it were evaporating as if it were nothing but water.

Pneuma and Logos turned to where he was looking and they both stumbled back. Pneuma reached out to cling to his coat.

“Logos, what’s happening?” Klaus called out even though he suspected he already knew. An explosion of air nearly toppled Klaus off his feet but Pneuma and Logos held him steady.

Distantly he could hear an incessant beeping in his right ear. Time was up.

_What in…?_

Klaus shook his head to clear his thoughts. He thought he had more time.

“Well it appears through extreme ether tension and without enough power to hold it all together, this reality is collapsing and will take us with it. Though that is only a hypothesis. I can run a test to be sure if you’d like?”

Klaus’s glare went unnoticed by Logos, “Smartarse.”

He turned to Pneuma who watched the destruction with an expression of terror. Poor thing, it was unexpected for Pneuma to display such human-like emotions. Perhaps the mimicking had gotten too deep into its code and slowly began to reprogram itself into developing complex feelings. It would feel the loss of humanity all the more strongly for it.

“Pneuma,” Klaus called out again and Pneuma turned to look up at him from where both it and Logos hid partially behind him, “I need you to stabilize the ether while I open the gate. We are out of time.”

Pneuma’s so-called mouth formed an ‘o’. it nodded and the grip on Klaus’s coat tightened. Then almost agonizingly slowly, the rapidly vaporizing world ground to a near halt, each vapor that carried the land to oblivion wavering in the air like northern lights.

“That’s… the best I can do,” Pneuma said. Its voice was strained and its form wavered. Klaus felt an invisible pressure lift from his mind. It was working.

Slowly, Klaus lowered Pneuma and himself to the ground. This next part was going to get tricky, and it would have to take a lot more mental strain than he thought he would have to use.

“Logos, tell me how much time we’ve got until the simulation collapses.”

Logos, who had watched Klaus and Pneuma move to the ground without following jolted suddenly, as if it were pulled from a deep train of thought.

“Erm,” Logos analyzed the slowly creeping destruction, “I would give or take 5 minutes.”

“Give or take?”

“4 minutes and 50 seconds now, want me to start counting?”

Klaus rolled his eyes, “I wonder where you got that attitude from.”

“I wonder.” Logos snarked back.

Klaus ignored the obvious bait and closed his eyes, focusing on his physical body that sat in the lab and tried to open the connection that would bring Logos and Pneuma back with him. He felt Logos settle on the ground beside him, and after a moment’s hesitation, a small hand closed around his arm. The jittery sensation of electricity ran faintly through the cloth of his coat, as if Logos were consciously holding it back.

It really was difficult to not think of them as children.

Klaus resigned himself to his fate and grasped their hands in both of his. They jumped, obviously, having not expected a return in comfort they were trying so hard to hide. The sudden gust of wind and the pressurizing headache that returned in full force told Klaus that Pneuma had temporarily lost concentration.

Was he always really so cold? A voice that sounded like Galea told him _“Yes.”_

“Apologies!” Pneuma squeaked and the pressure and wind disappeared.

Klaus breathed through the electric current and ignored the small part of him that was growing annoyed at the lack of progress.

His voice was soft as to not startle Pneuma, “Don’t let it happen again,” he said.

He assumed it heard him and focused back on the connection between his mind and his body.

It was like trying to squeeze through a tunnel that kept shrinking, the connection was still there of course, but with every passing second the mental strain of holding the computer together grew closer to snapping. If it snapped, he would die, the others back in reality following not soon after in a deadly explosion of ether energy.

Firstly, he needed to widen the tunnel. Enough for Logos and Pneuma to follow through and use his body as an extension to the rest of the Rhadamanthus. They didn’t have enough power for the original channel, which was meant for this exact purpose, so they had to improvise. Klaus would have to do.

A violent tug on his mind told him that Frederick was already trying to pull him out of the simulation. He grit his teeth. He needed just a little longer. He pushed, following Frederick's tugs until he finally felt the tunnel give way and there was a disorienting moment where Klaus could feel himself in two places at once.

He could sense distantly that there was movement on his left, multiple voices speaking frantically over a continuous siren that stung his eardrum.

Someone was shouting in his ear, “You better stay with us, Klaus!”

Klaus forced his physical mouth to move. It was difficult, like someone was super-gluing his lips together.

“Working… on it,” he said.

“Father I can’t hold it much longer!” Pneuma said, its voice was high and frantic.

Logos was still gripping his arm, and the feeling was slowly melting away.

“Father, we have less than a minute, hurry up!”

Klaus opened his eyes, his vision was overlapping with the crumbling Elysium and the dark room inside the space station. His left side was getting numb.

It was now or never.

“Pneuma, Logos, the channel is open!”

There was a moment where Klaus thought they hadn’t heard him, that it was all in his head. Then Pneuma and Logos disappeared, and it felt like he was stuck with lightning.

His vision flashed in purples and greens, and he could hardly make out what was left of Elysium. He could make out through the chaos that the destruction was now rapidly closing in. The tree had just begun to vanish when the colours encompassed his vision completely and everything was gone.

Klaus felt as if he were picked up and forcefully thrown back into his body, and he jolted.

“He’s back!”

“Get those wires off of him, we need to get him to the med bay!”

His throat was raw from the telltale pain of screaming, and he forced himself to take in ragged gulps of air.

The room wasn’t dark anymore, Klaus realized. Lights flickered to life and machinery whirred as Pneuma and Logos took control over the station.

Someone, Markus, was snapping his fingers in front of Klaus’s face. He was saying something, but Klaus couldn’t hear him over a familiar ringing in his ear. Frederick was removing wires from his body, his face pinched together in a complex emotion that Klaus couldn’t bother to try and decipher at the moment.

All Klaus could focus on, were the lights above them that he never thought would return to the Rhadamanthus. They grew brighter, until it was the only thing Klaus could see.

The voices and ringing stopped.

The light glowed brighter still.

_Don’t. You. Dare._

* * *

The world was spinning when Klaus woke up, and the urge to regurgitate whatever was left in him held his throat in a vice-like grip. Klaus gripped what felt like bed sheets underneath him tightly, willing the bout of nausea to pass.

It did eventually, and Klaus relaxed. When he released the sheets from his death grip, his hand shook violently. Klaus held it tightly in a fist until he had calmed down.

How long had he been out for?

With great difficulty, Klaus forced himself to sit up and swing his legs over the side of the cot. He shuddered violently as the bed sheets passed through the void, causing the strange tar-like substance to ripple in the air.

The room sat empty. It was the old storage unit from before, yet it was different now. Any excess shelves had been removed from the room which opened enough space for a few chairs and the single cot that Klaus found himself on. Where they had gotten the cot, Klaus had no idea, but he wasn’t going to question it.

His feet touched the floor, and the lights along the sides of the walls immediately lit up a dark green. Tubes that had been built into the floor also lit up along the base of the walls, converging at the doorway before splitting out into the hall, lighting up a trail that led outside the storage-turned-medical unit and to where Klaus assumed the others were waiting.

Klaus could tell immediately by looking out into the hallway that power had been completely restored successfully, if the light drifting in through the crack in the door told him anything.

The green light pulsed once, and Klaus sighed. He tested the strength of his left leg, pressing it lightly against the floor.

“You weren’t that worried about me, were you, Pneuma?” Klaus asked the empty room.

For a moment, it was silent. The quiet buzzing of the lights and the shuffling from Klaus trying wake his legs up were the only sounds that responded.

The overhead speakers crackled to life. The voice was a calm female one, “Your vitals dropped dangerously when you exited the collapsing simulation. The remaining survivors rushed you here and had you stabilized.”

Yeah, Pneuma wasn’t happy with him.

“Pneuma- “

“Father- “

Klaus was taken aback for a moment, Pneuma never usually spoke out without having been spoken to first. Though he supposed it may as well start now, seeing as the whole universe had been tipped onto its head anyway.

“It’s fine Pneuma, you wanted to say something?”

The silence returned, and Klaus pushed himself back until he hit the wall the cot sat against. It may take a while for Pneuma to sort out its thoughts, so he may as well settle in.

Klaus settled for searching for the speaker while Pneuma took its time. The silence was oddly comforting in a way, the humming that came from the fans and electricity that had been silent not so long ago brought him some semblance of normalcy in this twisted world he had created and it covered him like a warm blanket. The green light that signaled Pneuma’s presence cast the room in a dark emerald colour, making it difficult to decipher if something were made of objects or shadows. But it was easy on the eyes, so Klaus wasn’t complaining.

He found the speaker eventually. It sat directly above his head close to the ceiling, a small thing that only slightly protruded from the wall. Klaus continued to stare up at the speaker, knowing that Pneuma knew he was watching it.

The monotonous sound of the fan had just begun to lull Klaus into a doze when the speaker finally crackled again, and Klaus opened his eye that was half shut.

“They’re all gone, father.”

“They are.”

“Is Ontos gone too?” Pneuma asked again, the automated voice came out rushed, almost as if it were afraid of the answer.

Klaus thought for a moment, trying to piece the correct words together, “Not entirely, I believe. I think your… sibling… may still exist in another place, away from here.”

“I see.”

Klaus took a breath, “Pneuma, I don’t ask for forgiveness, but I only wish for you to know this was never what I had intended- “

“- It is forgiven, father,” Pneuma interrupted him, and Klaus didn’t have enough time to process what was said before Pneuma continued, “I cannot speak for the others of course. Humans are error prone. Is that not why you have Logos and myself to watch over the rest of you? Remember you are not an exception from these flaws.”

“I know what is in your heart. We have spent more than enough time together for a proper analysis of your personality and I know there is very little ill intent in you. Your mistakes all stem from want and ambition; in your case you wanted a better world, one where humans did not have to wage war over the necessities for life, and an ambition to make that want a reality.”

“You care deeply, father. I ask that you do not lose these qualities of yours, because there is still something magnificent that can come from that mind of yours.”

Klaus jumped as a hologram of a child appeared directly in front of him. He forced himself to hold still as it reached a hand over Klaus’s, hovering just so they barely touched.

“That hand of yours no longer need be used just for destruction, Klaus,” Pneuma finished quietly.

Pneumas’ hologram faded, and silence reigned once again.

It was a long time before Klaus could use his voice again.

“I cannot just put this behind me, Pneuma,” Klaus reached for the card and rubbed one of the corners with his thumb, “all this destruction and death.”

“… No, but perhaps you can use this as a new opportunity. Do not let humanity’s last breath be in one of fear and anger.”

Klaus looked back up at the speaker, “Pneuma? What do you-”

“- It is getting late, father. And if I am correct, you have not had any sort of nourishment in the last few days. It is a wonder how you managed to survive this long.”

Klaus held a hand to his stomach; it was true that he hadn’t eaten in a while. He hadn’t thought about that yet oddly enough.

“Very well,” Klaus said, dropping the subject for now and forcing himself out of the cot. It was a long way to the cafeteria, he may as well get moving now.

He stood and stumbled into a shelf, knocking a few supplies off the rack that hit the floor with a bang. He groaned in frustration. It would take some time in getting used to walking without any help.

“Father?”

Klaus waved Pneuma off and fixed his stance so his weight was carried by his right side. He shuffled forward, and when he didn’t fall over, he lurched for the doorway and caught himself on the frame.

The emerald lights followed him like an anxious child and Klaus tried to quash his smile.

“Thank you,” he whispered into the empty air. There was no response, but the emerald lights shone a bit brighter and he knew his message was received.

Klaus clutched the door frame and watched the pulsating lights at his feet that navigated throughout the entirety of the Rhadamanthus.

“Oh, Pneuma?”

“Yes, father?”

Klaus pushed himself away from the door frame with a grunt and began making his way down the illuminated corridor, using the walls to hold himself a little higher.

“Stop calling me that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pneuma: but if we’re not Ontos, and you’re not Ontos… then who is piloting the simulation???  
> She doesn’t show it, but Pneuma is tired of everyone’s shit lol
> 
> So, remember when I said that this was going to only be about 4 or 5 chapters? Hahahaha, no. It wont stop getting bigger because certain characters (I wont name names yet but our dear professor is one of the biggest offenders) wont do what I tell them to do lol. As Rex would put it: I don’t get it, but I’m not complaining!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	6. Revelation/Clandestine

Gonzalez slid into the booth next to Klaus and began unfolding his napkins to tuck into his shirt.

Oh no, this was absolutely not happening today.

Klaus had been picking at his food with a fork for the last hour or so, accompanied only by the sound of the clock that ticked at the back wall of the cafeteria and the green lights that still followed him around every room. The cafeteria itself was nothing special, just a few large tables stuffed into a small room with four different vending machines scattered around the place. At the back of the room just below where the clock sat, a massive monitor the length of the entire wall hummed as its multiple screens displayed happy little cartoon foods dancing to a silent song. Just below it sat the ejectors where the food was printed out and paid for. Pneuma had pre-ordered Klaus a healthy portion of chicken, vegetables, and rice by the time he had shuffled through the cafeteria doors and he had to force himself to disguise the distaste that bubbled up in his throat at the thought of eating something.

Gonzalez had ordered himself a hamburger and fries, as he usually was known to do, and the scent was enough to churn whatever was left of Klaus’s stomach. He hadn’t known the other professor very well before, only enough through rumors that may as well have been considered warnings that circulated between the workers from branch to branch until it eventually but unavoidably reached Klaus’s.

He didn’t believe them at first, nobody on earth could possibly have a sense of taste that was that primal. Until he witnessed it. It had been one of the worst days of Klaus’s life and that included the last however long he had been spending here with half a body.

Gonzalez reached for the ketchup and Klaus dropped his fork so he could lay his hand on his cheek and use it as a barrier between his eye and the criminal acts that were about to be committed next to him. The cafeteria was empty. There was nobody else here. Why pick the seat right next to him?!

He felt Gonzalez’s hesitation and spoke up before he could, letting his absolute disgust drip into his voice, “No, I do not want any ketchup.”

“Alright prof, suit yourself.”

And then Gonzalez unscrewed the top of the ketchup bottle and dumped half of its contents onto his hamburger. Klaus didn’t see it, but he heard it, and it troubled him greatly.

The sound of the sliding doors opening signaled that someone had entered, and Klaus looked to see who it was, and to get an excuse to turn his back on Gonzalez who he was sure he had caught reaching for the mustard next.

Alexandra stepped into the room and began making her way towards the menu’s. She caught Klaus’s eye and she waved. Klaus waved back and she continued to make her way towards the station, tapping in her order and waiting for it to print.

Handy thing it was, in an apocalyptic-like world.

“Stuff’s pretty useful isn’t it?” Gonzalez said between bites of his nightmare burger, “being able to replicate the original almost perfectly using those little nano-machines. It’s a shame it takes so long to print though.”

Please stop talking.

“Yes, it’s all very fascinating,” Klaus said instead.

“You going to finish your food?” Gonzalez asked.

Klaus scowled down at his plate; he had hardly touched it. Whenever he managed to swallow any morsel of food, it felt like it would get stuck halfway down his throat, which wasn’t much of a surprise since half of it was actually missing. It was as if his body had completely forgotten how to swallow on its own and he needed to focus on getting even the smallest bite of food down. Fortunately, half of his mouth hadn’t vanished, so he hadn’t need to relearn chewing as well. It was embarrassing enough already. Klaus pushed the remaining greens around with his fork.

“No. I don’t like vegetables.”

Gonzalez raised a brow, pointedly looking at the plate that was still filled with food that were clearly not vegetables before shrugging and turning back to his meal that Klaus still refused to look at.

“Okay man, whatever you say.”

Klaus didn’t get enough warning before Gonzalez tipped the rest of the ketchup out of the bottle and onto his fries.

He was fed up with this. Klaus gestured at Gonzalez’s plate of food, “Gonzalez, they’re soaked!”

“Yeah I think you’re right, I should’ve grabbed some the vinegar while I was up there.”

“Oh my god.”

Gonzalez cupped his hand around his mouth and bellowed at Alexandra who was still on the other side of the cafeteria, “Alex! Grab me some vinegar while you’re up there will you?”

Klaus hit his head against the table and hissed at the ground, “Pneuma, kill me.”

“I am sorry father, but that would be against my code and regulations. If you would like to browse other options, like tranquilization, please let me know.”

He was considering it when a large hand wrapped around the back of his coat and lifted him up from where he was slumping.

“Hey come on man, we already had to give you enough of the stuff when you were out of it yesterday. Don’t be a Dramatic Dylan.” Gonzalez said, slapping his shoulder.

“Excuse me?”

“Hey, by the way,” Gonzalez gestured to Klaus with a soaked fry, “how do your clothes stay on you?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Gonzalez shrugged, shoving the fry into his mouth and continuing, “look its just strange, yeah? When the half of you went missing, so did your clothes, right? So how are they staying on?”

Klaus opened and closed his mouth, unable to form a proper response to the absolute lunacy that the other man had just spewed at him within the last few seconds.

“Stumped too? Yeah. I don’t blame you. I wonder if that void is solid in a way, you know? and that’s why its able to hold your shirt on and your pants up. Or maybe your other half is in there somewhere, who knows really.”

Klaus was dumbfounded, “How did you become a professor again?”

Alexandra took her seat across from them then and handed Gonzalez his bottle of vinegar. His eyes lit up as he grabbed the bottle from Alexandra, who had started working on cooling down her soup. She took one look at Klaus and snorted, her hand flying up to cover her mouth immediately. Klaus knew she was laughing at him. There was no need to poorly conceal it. What was he going to do? Fire her?

“Professor Gonzalez, you can’t tease Professor Klaus like that! You’ll give him another aneurysm,” she said.

“Oh wait, seriously? I didn’t know, how old are you prof?” Gonzalez asked.

Klaus stirred his food again, scraping the fork against the plate loudly.

“Twenty-nine.” He said, finally.

Gonzalez whistled, “Lotta stress you must go through for that to happen to someone so young. How’d you get to be a professor so quickly? I’m almost forty-seven and I’ve only been a professor for ten years. Let alone only worked here for one.”

Klaus shrugged, “I was taken in by one of Aoidos’s orphanage programs during the first of the Rebellion Riots when I was little. They saw potential in a lot of us and offered us a place to stay and a future career here as long as we studied and pulled our weight. I don’t remember how old I was.”

“So you…” Alexandra trailed off, looking away from him.

“Don’t know how old I am? No. Twenty-nine is a ballpark. I could be twenty-eight, thirty, or thirty-one. It doesn’t bother me, personally.”

Klaus cut into a piece chicken with his fork and frowned at it. He didn’t think he’d be able to even swallow something that small. He pushed it to the back of his plate.

They sat in silence then, Klaus pushing his food around the plate and Alexandra sipping her soup delicately from her spoon.

“Oh that’s right, almost forgot about this,” Gonzalez reached for the vinegar again and unscrewed the top, pouring a generous amount onto his fries.

Alexandra choked on her soup as Gonzalez drenched his food once again. After a moment’s consideration, he reached for the packet of mayonnaise he had brought with him to the table. Alexandra looked as if she were either going to leap over the table to strangle him or puke. Klaus was more than happy to leave and let her figure that one out on her own.

* * *

Pneuma followed him out of the cafeteria and through the hall that led to the Trinity Processor room. The green lights that trailed behind him were almost mesmerizing on the walls in the way the light bounced off of them and gave the corridor a slight emerald hue. But it was also troublesome, the dark shade making it slightly more difficult to see and Klaus stumbled over his steps a few times during the walk. If the main lights in the hall had been off, it would have been impossible to make anything out.

Klaus turned the corner that opened up to the Trinity Processor room where he could hear Frederick and Markus conversing further in the room. A purple glow shining faintly from inside told Klaus that Logos must have been working with them on something. He was about to enter when something glinted from the corner of his eye and caught his attention.

The dead monster at the end of the hall still sat slumped over the pipes that had been driven into its chest, the crystal that had once been glowing a bright cyan now remained shattered and dark. Klaus frowned, he had wanted to take a sample from the monster, but he had never found the time to do it. Glancing into the room told him that he hadn’t been noticed by the two people inside, so he carefully backed away from the entrance and shuffled his way further down the hall towards the monsters corpse.

“Father…?” Pneuma spoke up and he hushed it, quietly creeping towards the body so he could catch a glimpse of what it looked like up close.

It still looked just as it did before, when Klaus was able to catch glimpses of it during the fight. Its body looked hard and rubbery, yet as Klaus drew closer, he noticed that it had begun to fall apart slowly. A piece of its flesh flaked off its arm and it disintegrated into the air.

Klaus drew closer and touched the pole protruding out of its chest. The monster didn’t make a move. Feeling a little more confident, Klaus reached for the shattered crystal on its chest. He broke a piece off, and it crumbled to dust between his fingers. He rolled the dust around his hand for a moment, watching it drain between his fingers and onto the floor, where it quickly evaporated not long after.

“Pneuma,” Klaus said, “call me a sampler bot, I need to store this somewhere safe while we head back to my lab.”

Pneuma responded promptly, “Of course, would you like me to prep anything in the laboratory while we walk?”

Klaus hummed to himself, dragging a finger against the length of the pole and watching the dust-like substance flake off and vanish.

“I’ll need my examination equipment set up and online. Can you do that for me?”

“Already done, father.”

Klaus rolled his eye and stood up to move away from the small square robot that rolled its way towards the monster. The bot stopped short of the corpse and rose itself on spindly legs that attached to the wheels.

“Thank you, Pneuma. Aim for the crystal please,” he directed the robot, tapping where he wanted to collect a sample. The bot beeped in reply and dug a large portion of the crystal out of the monsters’ chest with its built-in scalpel and drill. The robot quickly placed the sample into a tube and stored it in its body, turning to Klaus in preparation to follow.

Klaus rubbed his chin, observing the small thing, it could really use some stronger sets of legs to help defend itself if it ever encountered something aggressive. Perhaps he would consider a new design after he had this mess sorted out. There were no doubt more hostile beings scattered around the world tree, it would do him no good to have to deal with destroyed samples from robots that couldn’t defend themselves properly on top of everything else.

Klaus nodded to himself, pinning the idea to the back of his mind for now and started making his way towards his personal lab. It wasn’t much of a walk from the Trinity Processor room or the Conduit’s room, which was a relief.

The lab itself was small, but it had all the equipment Klaus needed for experimenting and research. The Aoidos Research Organization was a generous one when it came to equipping their scientists with the proper gear for their job. Notes and glass containers from old experiments lay scattered around the counters that Klaus hadn’t gotten around to cleaning yet.  
The lights were already on by the time Klaus got to his lab entrance. The sampler robot that had been patiently trailing behind Klaus zipped around his feet and made its way to the depository machine in one of the far corners of the lab, which Pneuma already had running, to leave the sample for Klaus to prod at. It was tall, stretching to nearly the ceiling due to its older model. In the middle behind heavy glass sat the sample the robot had dropped off through a small vacuum near the bottom. Mechanical arms that were remotely controlled rested at the top of the inside of the machine. Klaus had no need for them so instead he raised the glass enough to push his hand through.

Klaus began setting up the computer and carefully began prying a piece of the crystal from the full sample, “Pneuma? Call Logos and let it know I need help with sample testing. It’s of high importance,” he said.

“Logos has received the message and will be with you shortly.”

Klaus held the sample up to his face on the other side of the glass and peered at it as the light from his lab glinted off of the sides when he twisted it into different directions. It had already begun to fade from his grasp.

“Right then, let’s see what you’re really made of.”

* * *

The door to Klaus’s lab slammed open and he stormed though it, Logos’s light following behind before quickly backtracking and heading in the cafeteria’s direction.

Pneuma was quick to spot him and its light fell into place beside him, the green lights swirling in its version of confusion.

“Father?”

“I have already sent Logos to fetch Gonzalez. Go find Alexandra and bring her to me. Now.”

At Klaus’s order Pneuma’s light promptly vanished, leaving Klaus to march down the hallway on his own. He hardly noticed that he wasn’t relying on the wall to keep him upright as much as he had used to. But his mind was focused on other things, like what that crystal may have been made of.

It came to no surprise to Klaus that the monsters had indeed once been human, as he had expected after witnessing them transform while he was in that state of other worldliness that was already beginning to fade from his mind like an old dream. But that’s what had Klaus puzzled. Why did they transform? It was entirely possible that it was the Conduits doing, but he had a strong hunch that the void and the disappearances of people from random places was the mainly the Conduits cause and not the transformation. So, what was it? Could it have been Ontos trying to prevent any extra casualties, but the outcome ended up with everyone who wasn’t vanishing suddenly transforming into mindless beasts attacking anything in its vicinity? Klaus doubted it could have been that because any of the four humans on the station with Klaus hadn’t been changed. So, could it have been just unlucky happenstance? Just a roll of the dice where either you were flung into a different dimension, transformed into a mindless beast, or left alone to die in orbit of an already dead planet? Klaus was unsure of that one as well. Until he realized that the crystal had a very similar markup to a certain nanotechnology that had been injected into half of the people in the Rhadamanthus. Including himself.

It had vanished too quickly for Klaus to have made a definitive conclusion but, the outcome was starting to look like it was very likely that the crystal on the monsters was the same technology that was being used to preserve and extend human life. A reaction with the Conduit’s power gone wrong, perhaps? He didn’t know, but all Klaus knew for certain was that he needed to find a monster with an active crystal and examine it, and that meant capturing one without killing it. But to do that he needed help.

He could not tell the others, not yet. Not without knowing for certain if he was right about this. Because if the others found out and if things got out of hand, Klaus was afraid that they would take it too far. He didn’t think he would be able to handle another human death on his consciousness, not after everything.

The hall suddenly began lighting up purple from behind Klaus, which meant that Logos was on its way back from locating Gonzalez, whose heavy breathing and footsteps alerted Klaus to his presence not long after. He slowed next to Klaus, who hadn’t stopped walking, and took the opportunity to catch his breath.

Pneumas’ light followed not soon after, Alexandra keeping up at a fast pace and she soon caught up with them as well.

“Professor? What’s all this about?” she asked him.

“Dude you’ve been missing for like, almost four hours now, what’s going on with you?”

Klaus didn’t answer, and instead turned into the Trinity Processor room where Frederick was laying underneath a massive computer, likely fixing some wires while Markus directed him by watching the live camera feed from the massive dual monitors that hung from the ceiling that displayed multiple camera angles throughout the station. The feed was coming in unclear, static making it difficult to discern anything from the outside. Pneuma and Logos entered the room with them, the green and purple light flowing and lighting up the left and right sides of the room respectfully.

Klaus stopped; he hadn’t realized that was what they had been working on.

Markus tilted his head back in response to their entrance and he raised a brow. He turned to fully face them and leaned against the computer’s desk and crossed his legs, splaying his arms out in a relaxed posture.

“You’re up, Klaus. How was the migraines?” he said.

Klaus ignored him, “What are you two doing?”

Frederick pushed himself from underneath the computer and sat up to face Klaus, he dusted his hands on his clothes as he stood up. He certainly healed fast.

“Currently we’re trying to get our outside feed set up so we can get a proper look at what’s going on out there. We used to have Logos here helping us, but _somebody_ called him away because of something ‘highly important’, so what’s up with you, professor?” Markus said.

Klaus frowned. He had been hoping to take everyone with him on this mission, but it was crucial that they get their camera feeds back online so that they could observe what was happening beyond the laboratories. Perhaps then…

“I need to get another sample from the crystals on the monsters that are residing on the station.”

Markus gestured to outside of the room, “Well there’s that big guy out there that we managed to haul into the room next over while you were napping, but I’d act fast because it’s been vanishing over the last few days, I doubt there isn’t much left of it.”

Klaus shook his head, “That’s why I need a new sample. I already took one from the smaller monster at the end of the hall. The crystals and skin won’t stay for very long without a host to keep it alive and it vanishes before I can come to a proper conclusion.”

Markus shrugged, “tough luck then,” he said.

He turned back towards the screens and Frederick stood glancing between Klaus and Markus, looking a little bewildered.

Klaus growled and stormed towards Markus. He spun him around to face him and leaned close.

“It’s life or death, Markus. And it’s really not going to look good if I don’t get my samples and my hunch turns out to be correct,” Klaus hissed.

Markus frowned and pushed him back a little, but he lowered his voice as well, “What the hell are you on about?”

“I can’t talk about it now, but you have to listen to me, Markus. I need a live sample. If I don’t get one, then there’s a chance that if things go wrong I wont be able to fix them.”

Klaus sighed, “look, it’ll just be me, Gonzalez, and Alexandra and one of the AI’s. You and Frederick keep working on those camera feeds and let us know if we’re getting close. Please Markus, you’ll just have to trust me on this one. I know what I’m doing.”

Markus glared at him, “I don’t trust you,” he spat.

Klaus glared right back, “Then we’re going anyways, with or without your help. I just thought I’d give you the courtesy of letting you know what’s going to happen.”

“Yeah, but you’re not. You say it’s a life-or-death thing, but you won’t tell- “

“- for their safety,” Klaus said, interrupting him with a hiss.

“Um, guys- “

Markus and Klaus both whirled on Frederick who quickly stumbled back. Alexandra and Gonzalez had moved sometime during their argument to stand behind him, both looking confused and a little concerned.

Klaus and Markus spoke in unison, “What,” they said flatly.

Frederick fiddled with the hems of his sleeves, “w-well, I kind of overheard a bit of what you were saying and… if its really that bad Professor Klaus, then maybe you should take Logos with you to right below the Low Orbit Station.”

Klaus blinked, “and why is that?”

Frederick pointed to one of the monitors, “I’ve located one of those monsters, and it’s pretty small.”

Klaus followed where Frederick was pointing and saw through a very grainy feed that there was indeed something that vaguely resembled one of the monsters shuffling around a room not far away from where he had specified.

“Logos should have enough energy to hold it in a cage until you guys bring it up here and we can set up an ether cell to contain it, I can work with Pneuma on that while you guys start heading down,” Frederick said, “The three of us can stay here and monitor you guys and keep an eye on security feeds in case we come across something suspicious.”

Gonzalez and Alexandra nodded from their place behind Frederick.

“Look prof, we’ll go with you, but you can’t be treating us like children. Whatever you’ve got to tell us I’m sure we can handle it like the adults we are.”

Markus watched Klaus with a raised brow, “So?”

Klaus backed down, shuffling away from the others. He fiddled with the card in his pocket.

“Fine, I’ll tell you after we capture the monster. Deal?” he said.

Frederick shrugged and turned back to start working on the computers, “Fine with me. Pneuma, help me with this bit would you please?”

Gonzalez sighed, “Whatever, man, just don’t keep this to yourself, alright?”

Alexandra stepped closer to Klaus, who in turn took a short step back, “Promise us, Klaus. Okay?” she said.

“Yes, okay? Let’s just get going. The faster this is over with the faster you guys get your explanations and I get my answers,” He said.

Markus rolled his eyes and faced the monitors once again, “We’ll call once you make it to Elysium. Hopefully the cams will be fully operational by then.”

Klaus nodded and began making his way out of the room, Alexandra, Gonzalez, and Logos trailing behind him.

Markus called over his shoulder as they left, “Don’t let us down again, Professor!”

* * *

“That could have gone better,” Logos said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the four as they made their way towards the exit of the laboratory. It flashed ahead of them and powered on the massive doors that would open up to the rest of the lab to Elysium. The purple lights flared along the edges of the door as the AI worked on unlocking it.

Alexandra snorted, “You think? Anyway, I’m just glad for the opportunity to get out of that stuffy place and have a look around the rest of the station.”

A resounding click echoed around them and the metal door crawled open. From where he was standing, Klaus could spot deep gouges in the metal walls and doors on the other side. He shuddered to think that they could have been ambushed by more angry monsters if that door hadn’t been designed to keep hostilities out.

Gonzales turned to look at Alexandra with a raised brow, “you were saying?”

“Logos, the source of these marks, is it nearby?” Klaus asked.

“No, I don’t think any of those monsters have strayed past the point of Elysium. Except for those two that you killed in the research and weapons department. The one that Pneuma and the others are tracking hasn’t left the area yet, so I suggest we get moving,” Logos said.

Klaus nodded and began making his way through the ruined corridor. Alexandra and Gonzalez’s footsteps not far behind him.

“Logos, keep scanning the area ahead, I don’t want us getting caught off guard.”

“On it,” the purple light vanished.

Alexandra nudged Klaus with her arm. Gentle though it was, it was nearly enough to topple him over. Klaus frowned at her.

“You know for someone who’s claimed to know those guys for most of his life you’re pretty cold around them,” she said.

Klaus sniffed, “They’re machines Alexandra. Nothing worth getting attached to.”

“And yet they’ve developed personalities, haven’t they? Logos actually swapped the sugar and the salt on Markus this morning. You should have seen it, it was hilarious!”

She frowned, her eyes gone distant, “until Gonzalez took it too far.”

“Hey, I’ll have you know salt and tea is an acquired taste!”

Alexandra laughed at Gonzalez, “oh yeah, it’s acquired all right.”

Klaus sighed, his tone was one that he had used many times before when having to educate those that forgot that the advanced AI were not human and needed the reminders, “that is not personality, that is misbehaviour based on a single strain of code made for learning experience that needs to be corrected.”

“Yuh-huh, whatever you say, Professor Klaus.”

He glared at her.

“How long have you known ‘em for anyway?” Gonzalez asked.

Klaus thought back, he hadn’t been introduced to the cores until he was of age to begin a high-level education at the labs. So perhaps, “nineteen or twenty years now. Why does it matter?”

He nudged Klaus with an elbow, “It’s just that they’re awfully familial with you. If I didn’t know any better, I’d almost say they love you like a father.”

Klaus was ready to retort and say that it was impossible. Because it was. Machines were incapable of loving because they were that, simply machines. The closest thing they had to emotions were merely advanced forms of imitation. But something stopped him, and he shut his mouth. He picked up his pace to the best of his ability and left Gonzalez and his stupid smirk behind him. It was pointless of course, because in a few short strides he caught back up to Klaus. Alexandra had already gone on ahead, but she had stopped at a particular gouge in the wall. She traced her fingers over the jagged bits of metal that stuck out of the wall from the tear, her brows pinched together.  
She turned when they caught up with her and now that he was closer, Klaus nearly dropped his jaw, the slash in the wall was deep enough to breach the room on the other side. The others exchanged wide-eyed glances with himself, no doubt he looked the same to them. Without another word, the three of them pressed on. This wasn’t a good sign. If those monsters were strong enough to tear through pieces of metal walls while enraged, Klaus didn’t want to think about what would happen if one got too close to a sensitive wall that was keeping them from being sucked into the vacuum of space. He would have to remind himself to get those repaired.

By the time they had reached the escalator that would take them up to Elysium, Klaus was nearly out of breath, having to lean against parts of the wall that hadn’t been torn into for support. Luckily, Logos had thought to turn the power on so they wouldn’t have to walk up the stairs, which was thoughtful of it. Klaus wasn’t sure if he could handle stairs in this state.

Klaus stopped. He reviewed his thoughts. He hit the side of his head against the wall, which was unfortunately free of any sharp edges. He needed to stop listening to the others, they were starting to get to him.

“Gonzalez?” Alexandra asked, “will the others be okay while we’re gone? We… might be a while yet.”

Klaus didn’t miss the metaphorical nod in his direction, and he clenched his hand to calm himself. It was frustrating enough being unable to do something as simple as walk down a few hallways, but holding the others up because of it? The old Klaus would have left him behind a long time ago.

“Hey, they’ll be fine. Markus is a tough cookie. I don’t know much about that Frederick guy, but he’s pretty tough too. Remember how quickly he got back on his feet after that attack? Dude could take anything coming his way and walk it off,” Gonzalez said.

Klaus snarked under his breath, “Oh Markus is tough all right. Seems to be the only thing he wants to prove to me whenever I’m around.”

Gonzalez frowned at Klaus and crossed his arms. He ignored it and shuffled onto the escalator after Alexandra with shaky steps, gripping onto the rail for dear life. He leaned over the side, trying in vain to get his breathing under control. He was so sick and tired of this body. When they got back and Klaus got his answers, he was going to sleep for a hundred years. This was getting ridiculous.

When they got to the top, he was still struggling to catch his breath when Alexandra suddenly stopped walking and Klaus nearly ran into her. He looked over her shoulder, a scolding at the tip of his tongue when he noticed the three sets of staircases that lay ahead. Klaus groaned.

“You’re joking,” He said.

Gonzalez cackled from behind and sidestepped around Klaus so he stood in front of him and he began jogging in place.

“No time like the present to get those glutes moving! Come on, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten that the place is actually this big?”

Alexandra laughed, “oh he knows, that’s why he never leaves the labs.”

Gonzalez’s grin faded a bit at the edges, “that so? Then why not just let us handle this? You seriously don’t have to go through with this prof.” he said.

Klaus inhaled deeply. No, he wasn’t going to back down. This is his experiment, his problem, and he wasn’t going to let some stairs and half a body get in his way. He wouldn’t make the others do his bidding just because he wanted to give up.

Klaus pushed himself forward and held his head up high, “No,” he said, “I’m coming with you.”

Gonzalez’s smile came back full force, and Klaus had half a mind to wonder if he even had a choice in the first place.

“Great! Then after me, one-two-step!” he said.

Alexandra echoed him cheerfully and together the two of them began jogging up the stairs. Klaus sagged; he was going to regret this immensely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy word count batman!!!!!!!!!!  
> Sooo… I had to cut this chapter into three parts 0_0 which means more good news rather than just the bad news I was originally gonna give y’all lol
> 
> So, I finally got around to revisiting chapter 3 like I said I was going to do and then I *didn’t*. Anyway, oh good god the editing mistakes I missed. (This is why you don’t write and edit while half-asleep at 2am, kids)  
> I think I managed to catch most of them, but I have a strong feeling that chapters 1, 2, and 3 are going to need a massive overhaul in quality. (chapter 1 especially. Without spoiling I’ll just say my original concept was going to be completely different from what’s happening now. I mean seriously, this was all going to be condensed into 4 or 5 chapters, conclusion and all!).  
> So that originally meant I was going to take a short upload break over the holidays to focus on rewriting the first few chapters… but because this chapter ended up being so massive that its now technically a whole ass arc I’ve got a lot more chapter buffers than I thought I did. So you guys likely won’t even notice a thing unless you read this lol  
> Keep an eye out for updates on chapters 1, 2 and maybe 3 throughout the holidays, since I hope to be dishing those out all nice and shiny for you guys to read 😊  
> Sorry for the long note and thanks for reading!  
> Also, I'll have you know I wrote the phrase "Klaus had half a mind to wonder" and I lost it for like a full minute. God I make me laugh.
> 
> (btw, anyone listen to the soundtrack from Into the Spider-Verse? I love to play it while I’m writing/brainstorming so I figured I may as well share it with some of y’all as well:  
> [ ‘Home’ in particular is popular with me while writing this story 😉)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5IaHyW-z27U&list=PLOWDZJe5wh3j2HkdsxNe7yDeZrow5XRsD&index=14)


	7. Corruption/Honesty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 has been updated!! Feel free to go back and check it out!

By the time Klaus had barely made it to the top of the staircase, he could feel a slight chilly draft make its way from above. It felt nice against his skin which currently felt as if it were burning from the inside out from pushing himself to get to the top and regroup with Alexandra and Gonzalez, who had practically skipped their way to the entrance of Elysium. After having his legs give out on him twice and having lost count from how many times his grip slipped from the walls that held him upright, Klaus all but crawled to the top of the stairs and into the church’s main hall. He located the closest pew and collapsed onto it, gasping for air.

Alexandra piped up from wherever she was standing, “Hey, you made it!”

If Klaus had the energy, he’d flip her off. For now, he just focused getting air into his lungs. Lung? He wasn’t going to think about that. It sure felt like he was only working with one. He coughed; the air here was freezing. He could see his breath puff into the air above him.

Shivering, he peered over the side of the pew he laid on to see if he could spot Alexandra or Gonzalez. They weren’t too far from him; Alexandra was holding her hands underneath her arms trying to stave off the cold. Gonzalez was pacing up and down the isle and he breathed onto his hands. The rest of the church wasn’t doing much better either. It was dark outside, though through the faint starlight he could make out the torn carpet on the floor and the pews and benches that had been tossed around the building. Klaus lay on one of the few that hadn’t been chipped or snapped beyond repair. Which was a shame, he found this building to be quite peaceful when he needed a break from his work.

“Damn,” Gonzalez said, “Who turned up the air conditioning in here? It’s freezing!”

Alexandra rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet, “I could feel it while we were getting closer to the top, I didn’t think it would be this bad as soon as we got here though,” she said.

“How come it’s not cold down there?” Gonzalez asked.

It was likely a mix between the large door that Logos had unlocked for them and the emergency ventilation system that would kick in if there were ever an emergency such as this. Alas he could not voice this to the others, so Klaus continued to heave and huff until the world stopped spinning and he could focus a little better.

“Do you think it’s because of the shortage that happened after the accident?” Alexandra asked haltingly, “maybe the power never kicked back on in this area of the beanstalk and after a while without heating it just kind of started cooling down? This place never really was good at trapping heat from the sun anyways.”

Well, that didn’t sound right. Hadn’t he ordered Pneuma and Logos to restore all functions to the Rhadamanthus? Klaus ran a finger against the side of the bench and frowned when it came away damp. It was beginning to frost over.

Klaus called out for the AI, hoping to get some answers, “Logos?” he winced as his voice came out airy.

The lights at the stairs flickered hard before stabilizing into a familiar purple. Logos’s voice filtered in from below a second later.

“Father? You called?”

“I did. I thought I said to restore all the functions to the beanstalk. Is that not the case?”

There was a moment of silence. Klaus watched Gonzalez and Alexandra exchange glances.

“I… that’s weird, I don’t…”

Klaus groaned and grabbed the back of the pew, forcing himself into an upright position.

“Right, well I’m telling you now. Logos, please restore the heating in Elysium and any other systems you may have neglected.”

When the machine failed to respond, Klaus tried again, “…Logos?”

“Father? You called?”

Klaus’s head shot up to the staircase, that was new. He twisted to look at the others, who each wore frowns of their own.

“Hey bud, you okay?” Gonzalez asked Logos.

“I am fine, thank you for asking. Oh, that’s right, the heating. I’ll get right on that, hold tight.”

Logos’s light vanished, leaving Klaus feeling a little overwhelmed. That had never happened before. Logos and Pneuma were incredibly advanced computers, a lapse in memory was never a good sign, let alone something he’d never thought would happen.

Klaus felt the familiar bubble of anxiety rise from his stomach to his chest, “Logos, you would tell me if there was an issue?” he asked.

Logos responded promptly and Klaus took notice of the light blue colour coming from the empty staircase, “Of course.”

A moment later, a high-pitched hum began sounding from outside the building. It must have been even colder outside than Klaus thought if Logos decided to blast the heating back on at full power. The purple light returned, and Logos spoke, “I have restored all necessary functions to Elysium. Although the heating may take time to set in since it is not yet sunrise.”

 **“** Looks like we’ll be making our way through the cold then,” Alexandra said, “the exit isn’t too far away from here anyway, right?”

“Yup, I’m sure if we move fast, we can make it there without it being too much of a pain,” Gonzalez said, “what do you think Prof? You good enough to keep moving now?”

Klaus hummed. Looking through the window closest to him, he could just see the grassy plains lit up by the starry night sky. Though, he supposed, it was space after all. If the station didn’t follow the earth’s rotation, the stars above would be the only thing that lit the ground they stood on. They would also be constantly freezing. So thankfully they didn’t have to deal with that issue.

There was something wrong, however. Klaus couldn’t put his finger on it, and it was driving him mad.

Klaus started, “Logos…” but he stopped himself. The land outside the church was clear, the grass swayed softly from the air Logos was pushing through. The buildings in the distance reflected the faint light from above, though the windows were all dark. A small lake that Klaus could barely make out shimmered undisturbed. Everything was at peace.  
The edges of the card bit into Klaus’s palm and he quickly retracted his hand from his pocket.

“Er, father?”

Klaus stood on shaky legs and steadied himself with the back of the pew.

“How are those security feeds coming along with the others? They should be ready to contact us by now,” Klaus said, he didn’t miss the frown tossed his way from Alexandra.

“Pneuma says they’ll be another minute or so, they will let you know.”

Klaus nodded, that was fine. It was a good thing that Markus and Frederick had a sense to start working on those cameras earlier. He had a feeling that they would be needing them soon.

* * *

When they stepped out of the church’s doors, Klaus was immediately met with a blast of cold air that had been held back by the insulation of the building. Klaus dug his hand into his pocket and hunched into himself, this wasn’t going to be a pleasant walk. Now that they were outside, Klaus could see the frost lightly coat the grass and a tin layer of ice that had begun to stretch over the edges of the lake. The grass was long overgrown, and it had begun to slowly creep its way onto the dirt paths that would lead to the main town, and eventually the exit.

The dirt crunched underneath Klaus’s weight and he shivered; the temperature here was nearly unbearable. At least it was fresh rather than just the stale recycled air that was in his laboratory.

Gonzalez rubbed his bare arms, the coat he used to wear had long since been thrown out, “Whoo boy, that’s nasty. C’mon guys, lets pick up this pace.”

Alexandra jumped in place and skittered forward, “no arguments there!”

They quickly made their way down the road from the church, Klaus keeping his gaze on the ground to avoid any obstacles that could give him a bad trip. He would much rather avoid tripping over a small stone or twig, the embarrassment would be enough to kill him if the fall didn’t. It was a long way down after all, they were just coming around to the lake, and if Klaus so much as lost his balance he could fall in and he wasn’t looking forward to figuring out if he could still swim in this condition.

A movement in his peripheral caught his eye and his head snapped up to the lake. He squinted in the low light, but he couldn’t make out anything more than the ice at the edges and the water rippling in the artificial breeze.

Distantly, he heard Alexandra call for him, “Klaus! You’re making us wait here, the exit isn’t too far past the town square!”

Klaus hugged his coat closer to his body and shuffled towards them, tearing his eye from the now still lake.

“Logos?” he whispered.

There was no light source that Logos could use to indicate its presence in Elysium, but Logos spoke anyways, its voice drifting up from beneath the earth, “Yes?”

“The lake…”

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that. If you wanted to know the temperature of the lake it is resting at 0 degrees Celsius. There are no lifeforms detected.”

Klaus frowned at the earth, “None?”

Logos was silent for a moment, then another. Klaus had just opened his mouth to call for it again when Logos’s voice resurfaced.

“None. So much for fishing.”

Klaus shut his mouth, his teeth clicking together loudly. He was beginning to lose it. Perhaps the lack of rest and food was finally starting to catch up with him.

“Did you need anything else?” Logos asked, its voice sounded odd, as if it were concerned.

Klaus shook his head, stumbling when he accidentally took a step at the same time. He really was exhausted.

“No, it’s nothing. Thank you, Logos.”

Logos hummed and it presumably left. Klaus picked up his pace, the others were waiting for him and he didn’t want to stay out here any longer than necessary. The chill was already nipping at his skin.

Klaus caught up with the others by the time they had reached the town square. The lone tree on the hill that marked their exit loomed above them as they made their way towards the steep incline. Another gust of wind had Klaus glancing over his shoulder. Seeing that nobody was there, he stepped closer to the others, whose conversation finally caught his ear. He huffed; they were talking about him again.

“So you were actually serious?” Gonzalez said, “the guy never left the lab?”

Alexandra sighed, “Well, unless he was nose-deep into a new research experiment, like those last few months before all this, he never left.”

Klaus sniffed, “Excuse me, I have a life.”

Alexandra turned to face him and deadpanned, “Professor, Markus and I once had to wait outside the auditorium for three hours because you forgot about your own lecture.”

“One time. That happened one time, Alexandra,” He said.

“Oh, he never told you what he did to his previous students did he?”

Klaus stopped walking so he could stomp on the ground, “Logos! I told you to scan ahead!”

Gonzalez grinned, “What did you- “

Klaus stormed ahead, he knew he would regret it when they came to the hill but right now he did not have the patience to deal with both Alexandra and Gonzalez’s teasing.

“- I’ve heard enough about myself, believe it or not. What about yourselves?” Klaus asked them.

“What, the great Professor Klaus wants hear about little old us?” Gonzalez said.

Klaus sighed, his breath escaping in a puffy cloud, “humor me? How did you come to work at the Rhadamanthus?”

Gonzalez scratched his chin, “Well let’s see, I actually worked on the Minōs as a professor years ago. I was only just transferred here last year. Never would have gotten the job if I didn’t have that background.”

Alexandra gasped, “No way, I’ve always wanted to visit the other towers! What’s it like?”

“Eh, not much different from this one. We’ve got our own version of Elysium that we call Avalon. Though you probably already know that. Only difference is this is where the conduit is hiding.”

“Oh but still, think of the different views of the earth you guys must have had!”

Gonzalez guffawed, “You kidding? I gotta squint in order to make anything out from up here.”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Okay well what about you kiddo, how did you get your student gig here?”

Alexandra stopped and glanced back at Klaus who quickly averted his gaze. He already knew why she had been so eager to work under his wing. She had made that very clear to him when they first met, listing off and quoting nearly every article he had ever been in, and even spouting knowledge from some of his past work and research he had published. She looked up to him greatly, to say the least.

Galea had liked to compare their dynamic to an over-excited puppy that wouldn’t leave the old and grumpy cat alone. She thought it was hilarious.

“I… I just got lucky, I guess.”

Gonzalez hummed and the conversation dropped. Klaus shivered and looked down the path, they weren’t much further from the exit now, thank goodness. The only obstacle left was the giant hill they had left to climb. He hoped he had enough energy left for the final push.

“So,” Gonzalez broke the silence, “you and Markus worked under Professor Klaus here, what about Frederick? Any of you know him?”

“No, actually. I asked him but all he said was he was in the middle of a job interview. Didn’t specify what he was interviewing for though,” Alexandra said.

Klaus shook his head when Gonzalez tilted his head in question. He had no idea the guy even existed before he woke up.

“My best guess is he was applying for that programming position in your department,” Gonzalez said.

Klaus stared at the back of his head, “How’d you reason?” he asked.

Gonzalez looked back at Klaus with wide eyes, “Oh that’s right, you wouldn’t know.”

“Frederick is probably the whole reason we’re even still alive right now, the guy pulled some really fancy tricks in order to get in that room you locked everyone out of, Prof.”

Klaus was incredulous, “The lock I set?” he asked.

“Yup,” Gonzalez said, dragging it out.

“But that was completely secure! Only someone with the highest level of clearance could even get access to that lock. How did he- “

“-I don’t know. Maybe he’s a prodigy or something and that’s why they were interviewing him. Just be glad he’s on our side.”

They reached the base of the hill and Klaus groaned internally. Alexandra turned to face him from here she had already started climbing.

“Hey, you don’t need help do you?” she asked.

“No,” Klaus grumbled, “I’ll be fine.”

* * *

Gonzalez and Alexandra practically tossed Klaus into the hallway once they reached the exit. The giant doors swung shut behind them with a rumble and Logos’s purple light was the only thing that lit up the hall for them.

“Okay, so, short break?” Alexandra asked them.

Gonzalez answered with a wave and Klaus wheezed. It was going to be a long one. At least they had proper heating now on this side. He had almost been afraid that Logos had forgotten about this place as well. When feeling returned to his arm and the stiffness in his bones disappeared, he pushed himself off the floor and sat against the wall, not caring that he resembled a fish out of water.

“Father? Pneuma says Markus and Frederick have the camera’s set up and back online.”

‘Perfect’ was what Klaus had wanted to say, but it came out as another wheeze and a cough.

“I’ll give you a moment,” Logos said, and the lights dimmed.

“So, uh, how much further until the water stations?” Gonzalez asked.

Alexandra nodded down the hall, “Just past here, shouldn’t even take a minute.”

Gonzalez stretched, his joints popping loud enough for Klaus to hear, “Perfect,” he said. He made his way to the wall across from Klaus and sat against it, stretching his legs in silence. Alexandra huddled at the wall next to Gonzalez and curled into herself. The hum of the air conditioning and the usual groans of the metal settling filled the air between them. Klaus’s eye slipped shut.

He jolted to awareness when he felt somebody touch his arm. Alexandra stood over him, offering her hand. He took it and groaned at the pins and needles feeling in his body.

“Frederick and Markus called while you were sleeping,” She said, making sure Klaus was steady before retracting her hand, “they said the monster isn’t too far away now, it’s still patrolling that one room just outside of the elevator.”

“Where’s Gonzalez?”

“He went to go grab some water, he told me to wake you and meet him there.”

Klaus ran his hand through his hair and grimaced at the grease and tangles. Usually, he wouldn’t have ever let it get this bad but he supposed these were special circumstances. He nodded at Alexandra, “lead the way.”

The walk down the corridor was long and silent. Klaus kept stumbling over his own feet until he gave up and shuffled closer to the wall so he could use it to hold himself upright. Alexandra didn’t comment on it and walked only a fraction slower. Logos trailed at their side, the lights on the floor pulsed in the direction they were headed in.

“So, we do have a plan to trap the monster, right?” Alexandra asked as they neared the end of the corridor. “I mean, I know Logos is going to use some sort of trap but how does that work?”

Klaus rubbed at his forehead. He realized too late that his hand was what was holding him up and he stumbled into the wall, his shoulder jarring from the impact. “Ow.”

“Ah, are you okay Professor?”

Klaus waved her off and pushed himself back upright, “I’m fine. You shouldn’t have to worry about me, Alexandra.”

“But…”

“Alexandra. Don’t.”

She snapped her mouth shut with a click and huffed, “Fine, I tried.”

Klaus’s headache came back with a vengeance. He ignored it and pressed onwards, Alexandra tailing behind with her arms crossed. “We’ll have to set up a distraction. Before you say anything,” Klaus looked back at her pointedly, “Don’t worry, that will be me. I won’t put either of you in danger just because of a hypothesis.”

“The hypothesis you won’t tell us about?”

“I already said I would tell you about it when I get the results I want.”

Alexandra pouted and looked away. She scuffed her foot against the floor and the sound bounced through the corridor.

“Fine, what happens next?” she asked.

“I hold the creature still until Logos has calculated the space around it for an energy field that can be easily transported by one of us,” Klaus blinked as they came into the room that held the security gates. He was surprised that Logos had bothered to turn them on, but he supposed that it would be petty enough to turn on even the most basic of functions just to drive a point to Klaus, who had no idea what that point may be. He shook his head and continued, “It shouldn’t take longer for us to get back, but we will have to hurry. Logos can hold an ether field just fine, but not forever. And if that monster suddenly decides to start lashing out then it could cause some serious damage.”

“Will it hurt Logos?” Alexandra asked.

Klaus scoffed, “No, that’s impossible. It may cause some errors that could shut Logos down, essentially like taking a knock to the head, but no, Logos cannot feel pain.”

“Besides, it wouldn’t happen,” Logos said, Alexandra jumped, like she had forgotten that it was still there, “you can count on me. I’ll keep you all safe.”

She laughed, rubbing her hand against the back of her head, “okay, thanks buddy.”

They stepped through the security gates and Logos disappeared around the corner down the escalators. They activated with a thrum as the AI passed over it. Alexandra walked past Klaus and began descending. She leaned over the side of the rail and waved to who Klaus assumed was Gonzalez.

“We’re here!” she called over the side, “Klaus is with me too.”

“I’d be worried if he wasn’t!” Gonzalez called back as Klaus cautiously stepped onto the escalator.

When he reached the bottom, he turned to the back where Alexandra and went to meet with Gonzalez. He tried to ignore the empty chairs that sat scattered around the part of the station that was usually bustling with people. The room was dark, the few lights that were on cast the room in shadows and Klaus couldn’t shake the hollow feeling that yawned in his chest.

Gonzalez smiled and lifted a paper cup in Klaus’s direction, “I’ve got water.”

* * *

Gonzalez leaned against the back of a chair, “So that’s the plan? What exactly do you need us for then?”

“The control centre.”

“Huh?”

Klaus rubbed his forehead; they had decided to take a seat at the chairs near the water cooler in order to catch up. Not far from where they sat, the clouds beneath them drifted slowly through the transparent floor. From where they were so high above, it looked almost as if the earth hadn’t changed a bit. Except for the fact that there were no lights below from the millions of homes that normally lit the earth below in a dazzling spectacle during the night. It was night now, and the longer Klaus stared at the empty planet below, the heavier his stomach felt, like all he had that afternoon was lead instead of the measly few bites of chicken for dinner. So, he looked ahead instead at the blank wall behind Gonzalez.

“Because Logos will be directing its energy into holding the monster captive, it will need to rely on someone directing the cage back to the lab.”

Logos piped up from the speakers above them, “what father is trying to say is it’s going to be a bit of a handful. Literally.”

“Logos…” Klaus warned, “don’t.”

Gonzalez laughed and Alexandra covered her mouth with her hand, “Oh no Professor, I’m sorry,” she said.

Klaus sighed, slumping into his seat, “It’s fine. The only issue is that it will take two hands to pilot the controls and as you can clearly tell I’m not exactly fit for it at the moment.”

Gonzalez walked over and clapped Klaus on the shoulder, “don’t worry about it, we got it covered.”

“How are the others, by the way? I heard they called earlier,” Klaus straightened in his chair so he could properly look at Gonzalez, “have they got Pneuma started on the ether cell?”

Gonzalez’s eyes flickered towards Alexandra, “Yeah… they wanted to know about our plan, but we told ‘em you needed the rest.”

“I’m sure Markus was happy about that.”

Gonzalez sighed and ran a hand down his face, “Markus’s feelings are complicated. I’m not going to get into it because really, it’s not my place.”

He placed a heavy hand onto Klaus’s shoulder, and he winced as Gonzalez’s fingers dug slightly into his skin, “frankly, I don’t blame him,” he said.

He pat Klaus once, then let go and walked towards the elevator. Klaus watched him walk away, not quite able to tear his gaze from him until Alexandra began moving as well.

“C’mon Professor, we’ve got a monster to catch.”

“Er, right.”

Klaus watched her leave as well, she caught up to Gonzalez quickly and she tapped him on the arm, leaning in to whisper something to him. Klaus forced himself to look away and instead watch Logos’s purple lights that hadn’t left him yet. The lights grew brighter as Klaus’s gaze landed on them, perking up at the attention.

“Logos...”

“Yes father?”

“…Go inform Pneuma and the others that we’re moving in, and that we’ll be back soon.”

Logos’s lights dimmed slightly, “Of course,” and it vanished momentarily. Klaus grunted and stood, steadying himself on the back of the chair.

His fingers toyed with the identification card while he walked towards the others. His shoes squeaked against the glass floor as he crossed the room that would lead to the elevators entrance. The doors opened with a woosh, the cyan lights around it shifting into purple as Logos made its return.

“Ready when you are, Professor,” Logos said.

Alexandra and Gonzalez were already stepping inside the elevator by the time Klaus was reaching the entrance. He turned back for a moment to look at the infinite space that lay outside, the curvature of the earth only just reaching the bottom half of the windows that covered half the walls.

“Klaus! Let’s get a move on!”

He turned back and stepped into the elevator, “right,” he said, “I’m ready.”

* * *

It didn’t take them long to find the monster when they exited the elevator. It prowled around the room just beyond the massive set of doors that led outside, the telltale scrape of metal as it dragged its body around the room was what alerted them to its presence in the first place.  
The room outside of the elevator wasn’t small, it was built to be massive for deliveries and to keep the core of the beanstalk sturdy. The ceiling seemed to stretch on for eternity, the walls and pillars disappearing into the shadows where the light couldn’t reach.

Klaus peered through the door that Logos had only opened partially, watching the monster pace in circles grumbling to itself. Just watching it made his hairs stand up on end.

“Right, I guess you’re up Klaus,” Alexandra whispered from behind him.

Klaus leaned back and nearly collided into Gonzalez who was hovering above him to get a look at the monster for himself. He shrugged at Klaus’s bumble then stood back with Alexandra to give him some space.

Klaus straightened his jacket and stood, “okay. Logos?”

“Ready whenever,” Logos said quietly.

Klaus nodded once and prepared to step into the room, “good.”

A hand closed his fist, and he raised a brow as Alexandra’s’ grip tightened.

“You sure you don’t need any help?” she asked.

Klaus gently twisted his hand away from hers, “No, I can handle it.”

“Look Prof, at first I wasn’t really all for this but I don’t want you to do this by yourself, I’m going to help,” Gonzalez said.

Klaus took a step back, “Fine, see that pad over there? You’ll help plenty by activating it.”

Gonzalez frowned while Alexandra moved over to peek at the small panel Klaus gestured at, about midway between the elevator and the doors. Klaus moved forward and gestured again. Gonzalez groaned and walked over to the panel. He placed a hand over the holographic screen and began toying with the settings.

Klaus glanced behind him, luckily the monster hadn’t noticed him yet. He quickly slipped through the crack between the doors.

“Logos, lock it.”

Gonzalez and Alexandra looked up just in time to watch the purple lights flash up along the sides of the doors and they shuddered closed. Their calls were cut off as the doors slid shut, leaving Klaus alone in silence. The monster huffed and Klaus turned to face it. It stood eerily still now, the crystals on its body pulsating like a heartbeat.

“You know if this ends up killing you, I’ll bring you back to life so I can kick your ass before Pneuma finds out and hunts me down.”

“Language, Logos.”

“Sorry, _Dad_.”

Klaus couldn’t glare physically at Logos, so he settled for the monster instead.

“I’ll remove that word from your vocabulary if I have to,” he said.

A loud bang from behind the door made Klaus jump and the monster growled, stalking forward.

“I’d like to see you try.”

Klaus took a step back, bumping into the large doors. Another bang sounded from inside, likely Gonzalez or Alexandra trying to break out. It wouldn’t work, of course. His word was final in Logos and Pneuma’s eyes. Unless his life was in danger, Logos would then likely unlock the doors and put the others in significant risk in an attempt to save Klaus.  
He could not let that happen under any circumstance. Not again.

“Logos do not let them out. That is an order.”

“I… yes, Professor.”

Klaus eyed the monster as it drew closer. Saliva dripped from its mouth like a faucet and Klaus shivered, he didn’t want to have to get close to the thing if he could help it. The monster paused and cocked its head, and Klaus tensed. It scuffed its foot against the ground and growled lowly.  
Klaus’s breath caught in his throat and he screamed, “Get away from the door!”

The monster charged without further warning and Klaus barely managed to dodge out of the way, throwing his body onto the ground and rolling to a stop. The void on his side flared. With a terrible screech the monsters’ arm pierced through the door where Klaus had been standing not a second earlier. He prayed that the others had heeded his warning and had moved back to safety.

“Father!” Logos’s voice was high and frantic compared to its normal deeper drawl, “you need to hold it still, I can’t hit it!”

Klaus grit his teeth and forced himself to stand. The monster tugged and growled at its arm that remained stuck in the door. It turned to Klaus and screamed, saliva flying off its mouth in rage. Klaus covered his ear with a shout. With such a large and empty room, it was almost as if the scream was multiplied.

With one final, violent tug, the monster ripped its arm free of the door, the jagged metal leaving deep scrapes in its arm that oozed cyan coloured fluids. Klaus tsked, yet another piece of the station that would have to be fixed later. The monster screamed again, though this time Klaus could just barely hear yelling coming from the other side of the door. His chest seized, he hoped they were okay.

“Father!” Logos yelled.

With a growl of his own, Klaus thrust his arm forward, focusing all his energy onto the monster.

He yelled back, “I’m working on it!”

The monster prepared to charge again, scuffing its foot against the ground and digging its massive claws into the floor, tearing up the metal plating.

Klaus inhaled as it charged again, focusing on the energy surrounding the beast and commanding it to halt in its tracks. The yelling from beyond the door and the scream from the monster faded into the back of Klaus’s mind as a monotonous hum blanketed his hearing. The monster leaped at Klaus, the air shimmered gold and suddenly the monster halted mid-air, directly above Klaus with a claw aimed to kill.

He could barely hear Logos calling for him through the hum, and his focus slipped for a moment, the voices overpowering the sound that overcame Klaus’s senses. The monster fell forward before jolting still. Klaus could feel sweat begin to bead on his forehead, but he didn’t dare move. His eye remained locked onto the monster that looked as if it had been frozen in time.

Distantly, Klaus heard the distinct rumble of a door opening and footsteps rapidly making their way to his direction.

Purple light intermingled with the golden air that weaved around the monsters’ body. It was sharp and electric compared to the soft, ribbon-like aura of the golden light. Klaus strained; he could feel the monster fighting back against his hold.

Klaus felt rather than heard the groan that escaped his throat. The weight of the monster struggling against him was heavy and becoming painful. The hum continued, unceasing.

The purple lightning divided into pillars that wrapped itself around the monster, forming a cage. The voices returned, though they could not pierce through the thrum. The cage settled onto the ground, taking the monster with it. The monster opened its mouth slowly as if its own body were fighting against it, Klaus could see its whole being shake from the screaming, but he heard nothing. Hands wreathed in purple manipulated the cage away from Klaus but the monster remained and the lightning coursed through its body. Its mouth sat agape while the energy lingered, its muscles frozen by the golden air and unable to convulse.

Klaus finally noticed a small pressure on his outstretched arm, it got tighter, and then he saw the hand gripping his arm so tightly that it was turning white.

“- out, Klaus!”

The thrum quieted momentarily, and pieces of the outside world began returning bit by bit. The hand holding his arm shook him and he blinked.

“Wake up, Klaus!”

It was if a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over his head and the hum in his mind snapped like a string, the golden light vanishing. He gasped as if he hadn’t breathed before in his life and he fell forward, arms catching him before he could hit the ground. A clang and a zap informed him that the monster had dropped as well. It screamed again as Logos gave it another hearty shock before falling over and passing out. The crystals pulsated like a heartbeat at rest.

Someone pat his cheek, “Hey, you back with us Prof?”

His tongue felt like lead and when he lifted his shaking hand to his head, it came back soaked with sweat.

Klaus muttered, “’m back.”

Gonzalez pat his back, “Oh, good. So I can lecture you for scaring us like that.”

Klaus choked out a strangled laugh, “Give me a minute first.”

Gonzalez nodded and wrapped Klaus’s arm around his shoulders, holding him steady, “How about we find a good place to rest first?”

Klaus nodded. A whoop came from Alexandra and Klaus watched in mild horror as she threw her glowing hands into the air, the cage following her every movement.

“Alex! Watch where you’re swinging that thing!” Gonzalez said.

She laughed sheepishly and carefully lowered her hands, the cage carefully settling onto the ground.

“I’m sorry,” she said, “it just feels a little weird. Like I’m holding a small ball of electricity. Or like one of those plasma balls but without the ball.”

Logos’s voice came on overhead, “Alexandra please be gentle with me, I cannot hold this form while you’re tossing me around like some child’s toy.”

Alexandra went to scratch her head, but the cage suddenly jerked to the right and she frantically brought her arm back into place. She glanced at Klaus and Gonzalez with wide eyes before giving them a grin that screamed that she had no idea what she was doing.

“Right,” Gonzalez said, drawing out the word, “How about we all take a five-minute breather, just to sort of absorb what just happened.”

Klaus nodded gratefully and Gonzalez guided him over to a small pile of crates and barrels in the corner of the room and set him down on one of the benches some workers must have used during shift breaks.

He all but collapsed onto the bench, heaving in breaths while Gonzalez moved to inspect Logos’s cage. The monster itself hadn’t changed or moved. It lay limply on the ground, breaths coming in long and slow. Thankfully, Logos hadn’t killed it with that last shock. It was unnecessary in the first place; it held no chance of escape the second it had been enclosed. Unless it held enough energy to blast a hole open in Logos, but Klaus shuddered at the idea. Machine or not he couldn’t stand the thought of either Pneuma or Logos coming to harm, perhaps it was smart on Logos’s end then.

Oh sweet sentimentality, it was something he had never quite managed to rid himself of from his youth.

He eyed the elevator though the doors that were practically blown wide open. Logos hadn’t hesitated to release them once he had the monster locked down it seemed. Thankfully, once he manages to pull himself together, it would be an easy walk back up to wherever Markus and Frederick set up Pneuma’s permanent ether cage and Klaus could set up his tools for the examination.

For now, Klaus leaned into the wall and looked up. The ceiling was so ridiculously high Klaus could barely make it out.

“Logos? What time is it?” Klaus asked.

“It’s coming on to twelve in the morning. If you are hungry, I can see what’s in the cafeteria and read you the menu.”

Klaus grimaced and waved the offer away, “No, I’m good thank you. You need to keep up your energy anyway.”

Logos made a sound like a harrumph and went quiet. Alexandra and Gonzalez’s voices washed into the back of his mind and Klaus fiddled with the card in his pocket as the minutes ticked by.

“Hey, Prof!”

He looked up to where Gonzalez was calling him over, waving a hand to grab his attention. Alexandra was speaking to Logos, who now had the cage back up and prepared for transportation.

“We’re heading out, you good to go?”

Klaus sat back upright with a sigh; he shouldn’t hold them up any longer.

“I’ll be right there.” He said and Gonzalez nodded.

Klaus heaved himself to his feet, staggering for a moment but he held steady and began his new-normal limp towards the others who had already begun making their way to the elevator. He ran his hand over the hole in the door that the monster had left and winced. It wasn’t a clean cut, that was for sure. He carefully made his way over the broken pieces of metal that lay on the ground in the doorway.

“Father?” Pneuma’s voice suddenly came on the comms, the volume was loud enough to startle Klaus into nearly tripping face-first into the floor. He steadied himself against the wall and glowered.

“Pneuma, I-“ Klaus rubbed his face tiredly. He wasn’t going to get into this right now, “-What do you want?”

“Father there’s s-something… d-detect-“ Pneuma cut itself off, and the silence rung in Klaus’s ear. The break in the audio was something Klaus hadn’t heard from any of the AI before. Klaus stopped walking and twisted his head to look up in the general direction the voice had been coming from.

“Pneuma?” he tried calling, but there was no response.

He turned to the others, who had stopped to see what the commotion was about, confusion written clearly on Gonzalez and Alexandra’s faces.

“Logos,” Klaus tried, “is Pneuma still online?”

“Yeah, want me to call her?”

Klaus nodded, but a burst of feedback interrupted him and he flinched. When had he gotten so jumpy?

“It is alright, no need to call for me,” Pneuma said, its voice sparking. Klaus winced. The speakers should not have this many audial issues. Had something happened to these ones during the experiment? He had a sneaking suspicion that it was not the case.

“Pneuma, you were saying something?” Klaus asked, and the AI fell silent again.

Finally, it responded, “No father, it was nothing to worry about. I merely mistook an error on my sensors as another lifeform. And reported it without consideration.”

Klaus frowned, “Logos?”

Logos fell silent, and for a moment everything else was silent too. The ether cage sparked as the monster shifted.

Logos came back and the speaker was free of static, “There is no anomaly detected. Nothing to worry about, father.”

“And the others on board?”

“They are fine. Currently looking into a disruption, but they are unharmed.”

Klaus eyed Gonzalez and Alexandra. The latter shrugged and began making her way towards the elevator again with the cage tailing her, Gonzalez following not far behind.

Klaus shivered and looked above him, seeing nothing but the distant inky darkness that hid the ceiling and the occasional red blip from the camera monitors installed on either end of the rooms.

He heard the elevator opening and the three of his companions calling for him to hurry up. He pulled his sight away from the camera and the hairs at the back of his neck stood up, another chill racing through him.

His footsteps sounded louder to him than they did before, each step was like the slam of a door echoing off the walls of the empty room and when he got to the elevator, Alexandra gave him a look that told him she knew he was worrying about something. He didn’t bother to assuage her thoughts and turned to face the doors.

He wasn’t being paranoid. He wasn’t.

The chills never left as the doors slid shut and they crawled their way up the rest of the beanstalk, and Klaus didn’t speak another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This chapter was 6900 words, nice)  
> Thanks for reading!


	8. Paranoia/Skulk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!!!PLEASE READ!!!!  
> So I’ve never really done this before, but there’s a bit of a Content/Trigger warning this chapter. If I’m doing this wrong please, please let me know and I’ll fix it immediately.
> 
> TW:  
> References to suicidal thoughts

The ride back up was silent, and Klaus hated the looks he could feel Gonzalez and Alexandra were giving him. At least the elevator was large enough for the cage to sit comfortably in the middle with plenty of space to spare. Logos’s cage painted the space in various shades of purple. Through the dark light, Klaus could make out the floor levels on the holographic screen next to the doors and he watched the numbers tick upwards too slowly for his tastes.

The elevator shuddered and Klaus glanced up at the flickering lights. That was concerning. He heard Alexandra and Gonzalez shuffle around behind him, though nobody spoke a word. Suddenly, everything stabilized, and a light ring came from the holograph, Klaus moved to accept the call.

Frederick's voice filtered in from the speakers, “Hey, is everyone okay down there?”

“We’re okay,” Gonzalez said from over Klaus’s shoulder, “we got everything all wrapped up down here. What about you guys? There was some weird interference with the speakers earlier.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t us. Pneuma was scanning the outer ranges of the station when she suddenly crashed. Dunno how it happened but when we finally got her back online, she immediately left to find you guys. She mention anything?”

Klaus sucked in a sharp breath, Pneuma had _crashed_? Whatever had happened, it apparently had deemed it important enough to want to contact Klaus.

“Hey Professor Klaus? Pneuma’s fine, she just was a little shaken up is all, no need to worry.”

Klaus scoffed, “I wasn’t worried about it.”

Markus’s voice came from the background, his voice was muffled, “you keep telling yourself that.”

Gonzalez interrupted before Klaus could snipe back, “What’s Markus up to?” he asked.

“Oh yeah, he’s fixing Pneuma’s ether cell right now. When she went down, everything she was powering was shut down temporarily as well. It’s a good thing the oxygen is automated, huh.”

Logos’s voice drifted from behind Klaus, its volume was lower than usual, “so, Pneuma’s okay?”

“Yeah bud, she’s okay. We’re working with her right now to figure out what exactly happened. She says there was an error on her scanners and doesn’t remember going down.”

Klaus mused aloud, “Pneuma mentioned something about a lifeform, but Logos didn’t catch anything when it scanned.”  
He tapped his chin with a finger, then glanced back at the purple cage, “Logos, mind doing a quick scan again? Nothing too strenuous.”

“Yeah, be back in a second.”

The cage’s lights dimmed but remained active. Alexandra took a few cautious steps back.

Not a second later, the lights came back on at full power, “I couldn’t find anything. Sorry father.”

Klaus waved Logos’s apology away and eyed the hologram. Not much longer until they reached the Low Orbit Station, and then it was a long and cold walk back to the laboratories. He really hoped some of the heat had kicked back on while they were gone. Klaus suddenly jolted and turned back to Logos.

“Logos. Scan Elysium now.”

“Klaus?” Gonzalez asked.

“Sure thing, be right back.”

The cage’s lights dimmed once again, and Alexandra took another step back.

“I hate it when he does that,” she said.

“Prof, what’s going on,” Gonzalez asked him again.

Klaus sighed, “Well it’s going to sound silly, but I felt like we were being watched in Elysium. I just want to make sure…”

“It was probably just Markus and Frederick. They were working on the cameras, weren’t they?”

Klaus hummed, “Even still, its best to check rather than to leave things up to chance.”

“Yeah, but I’d be careful Professor Klaus,” Frederick said, Klaus had nearly forgotten that he was still on the line with him, “you shouldn’t be straining Logos right now, maybe wait until- “

The lights flickered and the elevator suddenly jolted still, throwing its occupants to the floor. The power went out with a fizz and a whir, leaving them in the complete dark.

Alexandra screamed and Klaus threw himself off his stomach, squinting to see what was causing the commotion.

Well, some sick part of Klaus thought as the monster found its footing now that Logos’s cage had completely vanished, at least they weren’t completely in the dark. The monster snarled, and the cyan crystals on its body flared, casting the room in an eerie glow.

“Well,” Gonzalez said as Alexandra quickly made her way over to them, “shit.”

* * *

The monsters’ claws scraped against the heavy-duty glass that sat in the middle of the elevator. Alexandra grabbed both Klaus and Gonzalez and pulled them to their feet. Carefully they moved themselves backwards and away from the monster, who was taking in its surroundings. It tilted its head this way and that, sniffing the air.

“You got any of that juice left in you Prof?” Gonzalez whispered to him. Klaus shook his head, he could try, but he didn’t know how long he could hold it for. If the power never returned and Klaus ran out of energy… well, they may as well be sitting ducks.

“Last resort,” he said, “how close are we to the next floor? Was anyone keeping track?”

The monster huffed and Klaus held his breath. Alexandra’s grip tightened on his arm painfully. It wandered away from the middle of the elevator and began inspecting the doors opposite from them. He exhaled a shaky breath through his nose. Either the monster hadn’t noticed them yet or it was genuinely curious about its new surroundings. It wouldn’t matter soon, however. Its sights would eventually be set on them and they would need a plan.

Alexandra shook her head, her eyes never leaving the monster. Gonzalez leaned over Alexandra so he could whisper in Klaus’s ear, “We’re near the Orbit Station, either just under it or the floor below.”

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement, “Alexandra, check the doors, can you see if we’re close to any levels?”

“Um,” Klaus felt her twist to look behind them, “I can’t really see anything, it’s kind of dark.”

Klaus squeezed her hand, “That’s alright, thank you.”

His gaze wandered over to the hologram that sat midway between them and the monster at the other end of the elevator. It was off, so they would have no access to the screen. But there was an emergency release switch that would unlock the doors underneath the metal post.

If this didn’t work, they would be dead. Then again, just sitting around waiting for the monster to turn around and notice them was also a death sentence. It was a good thing he was used to taking chances.

“Alexandra, you see the emergency hatch on the panel over there?” he asked her.

She nodded, “you want me to pull it?” her voice shook slightly.

“I’ll be a distraction and hold it still. It wont harm you. Gonzalez,” Klaus leaned over to address him, “after Alexandra flips the switch, you need to get these doors open and get out.”

Gonzalez frowned, “Prof- “

“-I’ll be fine, get yourselves out and to safety first and foremost.”

The monster exhaled a puffy breath of air and snorted. It turned around and it finally saw them. A low growl came from its throat.

“No time for arguments, go Alexandra!” Klaus shoved a hand forward and called for his power. The monster screeched in surprise as the golden light snatched its limbs and dragged it away from the panel, clearing a path for Alexandra.

Through his peripheral he could see her startle from his sudden action and then she bolted without a second of hesitation. The monster lunged for her, but Klaus held it steady against the far wall. His arm began to shake as the hum came back full force, pulling him into another trance. The world outside melted away until it was just him, the golden light, and the monster.

Someone grabbed the back of his coat and he was jerked backwards. Someone else reached under his arm and he was pulled up and out of the elevator. As soon as his vision left the monster, there was a thud as the humming in his head halted.

He blinked up at the ceiling of the Low Orbit Station. It was darker now, without Logos’s power running through the place. He lifted his head as he was dragged back from the elevator. It turns out Gonzalez was right after all, and there was just enough room for them to squeeze through the doors and the floor to safety.

The monsters scream of rage still reached their ears, and Klaus winced. It wasn’t too happy that its prey managed to escape it once again through the same means as last time.

Alexandra tapped his head, “you okay?”

He lightly swatted her away, “fine,” he extended his hand in a silent ask to help him up and she quickly complied.

He steadied himself just as the monster let out another scream. There was a bang, and then the sound of tearing metal. The elevator wouldn’t hold it for very long.

“Is there a way to close the emergency latch from here?” Gonzalez asked, Klaus whipped his head in his direction when he heard his voice crack.

The other professor looked out of breath. The doors must have been heavier than he thought, even without something locking it down.

He looked down at Klaus, “what?”

“Do you want some water?”

Gonzalez grumbled, “Shut it. I need to have a conversation with you.”

“Oh? What about?”

Alexandra’s voice beat Gonzalez before he could respond, “could we do this later, guys? We’ve got some trouble on our hands.”

Klaus followed where she was pointing and took a startled step back when a giant claw suddenly reached from below the floor and sunk into the metal tiles. Metal creaked and groaned as the monster forced itself up and out of the elevator. Cracks appeared on the floor from the pressure it was exerting from lifting itself.

Gonzalez grabbed Klaus’s arm, “we need to run, now.”

He forced himself out of Gonzalez’s grip, who turned back with an agitated frown.

He gestured to the glass windows, “We can’t let it rampage here,” Klaus said.

This time it was Alexandra who grabbed his arm, “well we can’t stay here either,” she said.

He twisted out of her grip, “Its fine, you both go on ahead. I can hold it back for a little longer.”

Gonzalez suddenly reached forward and grabbed his shirt, forcing him to look him in the eyes. He shook Klaus.

“You got a death wish or something Prof? What’s going on with you and these stunts?”

Klaus glared, of course he didn’t have a death wish. He was only doing what was necessary to ensure everyone’s survival. If that monster broke that glass, or even so much as cracked it, that was it for this room. It would be completely open to the vacuum of space. He didn’t even want to consider what sort of repercussions it would have on the rest of the Beanstalk.

There was the sound of something snapping, and they all turned to find the monster having completely freed itself. It stood on the metal flooring and began taking slow steps towards the three of them, a snarl tearing itself from its mouth.

“Ah well, looks like time’s up,” Klaus said and shrugged himself off of Gonzalez, “guess you’ll have to settle for my plan.”

“Klaus you- “

Klaus raised his arm and began calling for the golden light once again, “-thank me later, now go.”

Golden tendrils of light grabbed the monster before it began charging, and Klaus lifted it so it hovered just above the floor. He quickly glanced behind him and saw that they hadn’t left yet. He set his jaw, why weren’t they leaving him?

Klaus could just make out the monster’s scream over the low humming in his head. He felt the world start to melt away again, but this time Klaus held on. There was a struggle, an imbalance between himself and the thrum but eventually they reached an equilibrium, and it evened out into a white noise at the back of his mind.

With great effort, Klaus forced himself to turn and look for Gonzalez and Alexandra, who still stood behind him.

Klaus forced himself to speak through gritted teeth, “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice coming out halted and strained, “why are you still here?”

Alexandra’s eyes widened a fraction, “Professor?”

“We’re not leaving you behind just because you’ve got some martyr complex.” Gonzalez said.

He sighed, running a hand down his face, “can you walk?”

Klaus grunted.

“Guess we’ll find out,” Alexandra said, she looped an arm under his and began slowly guiding him backwards.

His arm began to shake, so he lowered it a fraction. The golden light remained. The monster thrashed in place, trying to break itself free.

The three of them began shuffling backwards, none of them averting their gaze from the monster that watched them through beaded blue eyes. It had stopped its thrashing, at least. Which made it easier for Klaus to keep a hold on it.  
His grip was slipping, however. The golden light flickering and vanishing bit by bit, slowly lowering the monster back onto the ground. They had nearly made it to the escalators when a sudden, blindingly painful throb hit Klaus’s mind like a truck, and he cried out.

The connection snapped, and he lost control over the monster. It hit the ground with a thud, and it growled at them, stalking forward. It lowered its body, preparing to lunge at Klaus and the others. The crystals flashed as it raised its claws. Distantly, Klaus heard the familiar sounds of whirring and thudding making their way from behind them. The lights suddenly came on and fans buzzed as they began circulating the air once again. A loud spark came from behind them as well, and Klaus’s figurative heart stopped.

“Get down!” Klaus yelled and dragged Gonzalez and Alexandra to the floor just as bright, emerald lightning shot over their heads and caught the monster mid-leap. It tangled with the lightning, biting and clawing into it, but it fired back with enough force Klaus knew would fry a human. He quickly shielded his eye as shock after shock wracked through the monsters’ body. Klaus almost felt pity for the creature as its cries rang out while Pneuma shocked it ceaselessly.

Eventually the flashing and the screaming stopped. Klaus lowered his arm just in time to see the monster slump in its new cage, its breathing shaky, but still alive. The lights on its body pulsed and it still shook from the leftover lightning Pneuma had pumped into it. The lightning settled itself down, angry bursts of sparks retreating into almost soft, steady beams of energy that formed the cage. The smell of burnt flesh seared Klaus’s nose and made his eye water.

“Father? Are you alright?”

Klaus forced himself to stand with the help of the others. His weak leg was shaking so he leaned against the nearest wall until he could calm down. He heard something drip to the floor, and quickly raised a hand to his nose when he felt it run. His hand came back stained a dark red.

He held his hand back against his face, “I told you to never do that again.”

Pneuma’s light flickered, “I apologize, but you were- “

“-No, don’t. I’ve heard enough. Are you okay?”

Pneuma was silent for a moment, “…I am fine.”

“Good.”

Klaus removed his hand to check if the bleeding had stopped. It had, and he began walking over to the escalators that Pneuma had powered on, “Alexandra, if you would help Pneuma with manoeuvring the cage again, that would be very helpful,” he said.

Gonzalez gave him a look of incredulity as he passed, “dude, she saved our skins. You’re just gonna shrug it off like that?”

Klaus gave Pneuma a pointed look, “why should I? It is a machine after all. Always following its number one priority, even if it has to kill to do it.”

If electricity could show remorse, then Pneuma did an excellent job at it. Klaus didn’t bother sparing it a second glance and marched up the escalator.

* * *

They were just making their way down the hall that would lead to Elysium when Logos’s purple light zipped down the other end of the corridor, its voice filtered through the speakers when it reached them.

“I’m so sorry father, I don’t know what happened, I was there one minute but then I was suddenly back with Frederick and Markus. They said I crashed when I scanned Elysium, but I don’t remember scanning Elysium- “

Klaus held out a hand, stopping the AI’s small rant, “Logos, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

Logos quieted, its light moved to intermingle with Pneuma, likely sharing wordless communication.

“Are you alright?” Klaus asked.

“Oh, yeah I’m okay. Though I think I understand human headaches a little better,” Logos said.

Klaus observed them for a moment, purple and green both swirling around each other in an embrace around the unconscious monster. Klaus decided to take Logos’s word for it and nodded. He continued walking, Gonzalez and Alexandra following silently.

“Oh, that’s right,” Logos moved closer to Klaus, “Markus is on the line, he wanted me to patch him through to you.”

Klaus groaned, this couldn’t be good. Since when had Markus begun lecturing him on everything in the first place? It wasn’t as if Klaus was his professor or anything.

“Put him through,” Klaus muttered.

There was a beat of silence, then, “Alright. What the hell was that.”

“Hey buddy!” Gonzalez called cheerfully from behind Klaus.

“Don’t ‘hey buddy’ me, I’m not in the mood. I’m trying to get a clear answer from Professor Klaus here since he seems to be hellbent on keeping everything a secret,” Markus said.

“I was trying to keep everyone here alive, thank you.” Klaus said.

“From the monster that you decided to hunt for some reason you refuse to disclose? All I know is you’re putting everyone in unnecessary danger because of some itch you can’t stop yourself from scratching.”

Klaus glanced up at the camera at the end of the hall, “can we not do this now, Markus? Just wait until we get back. I told you I’d explain everything then.”

“No, we’re doing this now. Look, I was fine with it until you decided to put everyone else in danger. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking when you pushed Logos to scan when he was already occupied with that cage.”

Klaus dug his fingernails into his palm, “I didn’t exactly expect that to happen, Markus. Believe it or not I’m not trying to actively put others in danger.”

“Oh? Then please, tell me on what you were planning on doing when you refused to leave with Alexandra and Gonzalez? What exactly did you think would happen if Pneuma never showed up and saved you all?”

Klaus’s irritation faded to confusion, “how do you know that?”

“Camera’s were on the whole time. Frederick and I could see every little decision you made when the power cut out and you put everyone in danger because of some experiment. Again.”

Klaus ignored the scathing jab, “but that doesn’t make sense. Logos was in control of that terminal. If it went down, then you shouldn’t have had access to the cameras.”

“Hey, knock it off and answer me, Klaus. What did you need that monster for?”

Klaus’s gaze snapped back to the camera, still pointed directly at him. He hugged his coat closer to himself, “no.”

“No?”

“I don’t have to tell you anything right now. We’ll speak in person, or not at all.”

“Fine. But if you pull another one of those self-sacrificing stunts again, I won’t be giving you another chance.”

“What are you talking about?”

Markus’s laugh was loud and mocking over the speakers and Klaus winced, “Oh come on. Don’t think we haven’t noticed your new behaviour as of late, Professor Klaus.”

Klaus frowned at the ceiling, “I don’t understand where you’re coming from, Markus.”

“Frederick and Gonzalez never knew you very well so I wouldn’t expect them to notice. Alexandra and I on the other hand, we knew the old you, and you weren’t nearly as self sacrificing as you are now.”

Klaus scoffed, “of course I wasn’t. Everyone changes, Markus, and these are strange times.”

“Okay, let me put it this way,” Markus’s voice grew louder as he leaned closer to whatever mic he was speaking into, “Just because you feel guilty doesn’t mean you get to off yourself and let us deal with the rest of your consequences.”

Klaus felt as if he had been slapped, “what?”

Gonzalez was suddenly holding Klaus back, he leaned over to Logos, “alright I think that’s enough. We’ll see you later Markus,” Gonzalez waved, and Logos dropped the call.

Klaus was seething, the absolute _nerve_ -

“Alexandra, take Pneuma and Logos ahead will you? I need to speak with Klaus here for a second.”

“Father?” Pneuma’s voice was quiet, almost sad, “are you alright?”

Logos was quick to intercept, “Ah he’s fine, just needs a little professor to professor venting am I right? Let’s go, we can’t let Alexandra overhear anything since students tend to gossip about these sorts of things.”

Alexandra laughed nervously, “I take it this has something to do about what happened last time?”

Logos brightened, literally, “Oh the stories I have to tell about the terror that is Professor Klaus, come on, we can walk and talk. Or you can, I guess.”

She followed Logos down the hall, Pneuma not too far behind with the cage that was still attached to Alexandra’s arms.

Klaus was frozen stiff. He didn’t know whether to scream or punch the nearest object, which happened to be Gonzalez. He didn’t think the other professor would appreciate that all too much. So he settled for digging his nails into his palm and glowering at the wall.

Gonzalez tapped him on the shoulder and pointed to his blood-stained hand. He held up a water bottle that was partially empty.

“Wanna wash some of that off first?”

Klaus snatched the bottle from his hands, much to the other mans disappointment if his sigh was telling anything. He struggled with the cap, unable to twist it off with just one hand. Gonzalez took it back and effortlessly unscrewed the cap and handed it back to a now angry and embarrassed Klaus.

He hissed as the water washed over the open cuts on his palm his nails had left behind. The blood had crusted over by now, and it took effort on Klaus’s part to scrub it off without an extra hand. After washing both his hand and his face, Klaus retuned the bottle that was now completely empty. 

“It’s okay, I’ve got a second one,” Gonzalez said, and tucked it away.

Klaus shoved his hand into his pocket and gripped the card tightly, “the absolute nerve of that… child.”

“I know, it was uncalled for. You okay?” Gonzalez asked.

“I’m fine.” Klaus said curtly.

Gonzalez sighed, “You know he’s not a child, right? Even if he acts a bit like one.”

Klaus snorted, “Right.”

“I’m being serious here. Look, his anger is coming from something totally relevant. He has every right to hate you for what you’ve done.”

Klaus looked to the floor sullenly. He was right, of course. He couldn’t help that his old student knew just the right buttons to push in order to drive Klaus up the wall. But then again, what right did he have to fight back with Markus? He was loyal and studious, nearly to a fault. He was one of the few students who was never afraid to get after Klaus for getting distracted over his job and it was something he used to admire about the boy. He still did, now that he thought about it. Markus was a born leader.

“I won’t get into the details,” Gonzalez continued through Klaus’s silence, “like I said before, because that’s not my job. He got carried away this time, and for that I’m sorry. But in a way, he’s right. You shouldn’t be so reckless.”

Klaus laughed bitterly, “I always have been reckless, Gonzalez, how do you think we got into this situation in the first place.”

“But never like this, right?” Gonzalez lowered himself slightly to catch Klaus’s eye before continuing, you shouldn’t throw your life away, Klaus. Not after all this.”

“… I know.”

Gonzalez nodded, “Good, then we should meet up with the others?”

“What do you think of me?”

Gonzalez paused, then asked, “What do you mean?”

“I already have a pretty good idea of what Markus thinks of me, but what about you? You’ve never once raised your voice, and you’ve been nothing but kind. I want to know what you think, and why you’re like this. With me,” Klaus said.

He was careful to keep his tone neutral, he didn’t want to sway any sort of reaction from the other man. He needed to hear this.

“I...” Gonzalez sighed, he ran his hand through his hair, “I’ll be honest with you Prof, you deserve that at least.”

Klaus nodded, relieved. He braced himself mentally.

“I hate you. There’s no way around it. I hate what you did to my family, my friends, and to everyone else. It’s hard for me to watch those arguments you have with Markus because all I see is the man who took everything from me demanding respect and authority.”

That hurt, but it was expected and deserved.

“But sometimes when it's just too much, and I'm too tired to fight, I can see the broken man who didn’t mean for any of this to happen. The man who only thought with good intentions to save a world that was pretty much done for shit in the first place. I can see just another flawed human being who’s trying to make things right, and I can respect that.”

Gonzalez looked Klaus in the eye, and he swallowed. His hand shook in his pocket and he clenched the card in his palm. Gonzalez’s hand came to rest on his shoulder.

“I’m on your side, Prof. But I don’t know if I can be your friend. It’s just complicated.”

Complicated. Klaus’s word of the year.

A laugh came from down the hall, and they both saw Alexandra doubled over, no doubt over something Pneuma or Logos had said. He eyed the monster in the cage warily, but it didn’t move an inch. Pneuma really did do a number on it.

A pat on his shoulder drew Klaus’s attention away from Alexandra’s laughter and Gonzalez grinned back at him. He groaned, “Don’t start with the personality thing. I’m not getting into it again with you.”

Gonzalez chuckled, “No, I was going to say that you don’t need to ask Alexandra if she feels the same as I do. Because she does. I can’t say for sure if she’ll forgive you, but she wants to, and she’s a real one-of-a-kind for it. She would make a good friend, if you can keep doing what you’re doing and show us you’re not all bark and no bite. Make it up to us, Klaus. For the rest of them.”

Klaus blinked, “Ah. I see.”

“But if you wanted me to, I could start on the other thing and tell you that I personally think that Logos has taken after your sarcastic nature.”

Klaus made sure to give him a deadpan look before shuffling off towards Alexandra, Logos, and Pneuma. He ignored Gonzalez’s laughter that followed him.

Alexandra noticed him as he made his way towards her, “Oh! Professor Klaus, ready to go?” she asked him.

Klaus nodded, “lets make our way back. I believe I have some explaining to do.”

Alexandra’s face lit up, “right then! Let’s move out!”

* * *

Klaus was immensely grateful that the walk back mostly consisted of going downhill rather than uphill this time. Even still, after a short break at the still frozen church and a much easier walk down the massive set of stairs, Klaus was out of breath. When they reached the bottom, he had never felt so relieved in his life when he spotted Frederick waving them down from the Trinity Processor's room.

He only paused for a moment when he entered the room. Almost everything had been cleared out while they were gone. The desks that had been blown clean off their bolts were stacked up to one end of the room along with any broken parts and chairs, and the floor was swept clean of any lingering debris. Klaus quickly noticed that a section of the room was cleared out especially, and a green-white energy field sat in its place, just large enough for the monster to fit in.

“Pneuma, is that taking a lot of energy to hold?” Klaus asked.

“No, it is self sustaining. The only energy I will need to exert would be to restrain the monster while performing tests.”

Alexandra whistled, “that’s impressive. How long did it take for you to make that?”

“Not long, I did not have much trouble,” Pneuma said as Alexandra stepped closer to the cell, the cage hovering behind her. “I would ask that you move aside while I deposit the cell.”

“Oh, sorry,” Alexandra said as she quickly moved out of the way. She piloted the cage into the cell at Pneuma’s instruction.

With the monster now safely enclosed, the cage dispersed, and Pneuma’s light joined Logos at the wall. The creature hardly stirred, but the crystals had stopped flickering. Hopefully that meant it had stabilized itself. Klaus stepped closer to inspect the cell. The light green yet translucent wall sparkled in the low light, and if he looked close enough, he could almost make out individual sparks of ether vibrating together to form the wall. It truly was remarkable.

“Klaus!”

Markus waved Klaus over, he stood with the others near the centre of the room. Alexandra was already making her way towards the rest of them when he called for him. Klaus straightened and walked towards them. He couldn’t delay this any longer, he supposed.

Markus didn’t say anything, but he crossed his arms, watching him expectantly. Everyone else had their eyes on him too. Klaus couldn’t get a read on Gonzalez, who was keeping his expression blank. Alexandra and Frederick looked nervous, however. He didn’t blame them.

May as well rip off the Band-Aid rather than leave them in suspension.

“I have a strong reason to believe the monsters are the former employees of the Rhadamanthus.”

The reaction was instantaneous. There was shouting from Markus and Alexandra, both for different reasons. Gonzalez was already trying to calm Alexandra’s growing hysteria while Markus was busy getting up close to Klaus.

“Why would you keep this from us?!” Markus shouted.

Klaus forced himself to take a slow breath. Fighting wouldn’t make this any easier. Klaus needed to get this over with as soon as possible so he could get to what he needed to do: actually confirming his hypothesis.

He spoke over the clamouring, projecting his old ‘Professor voice’ over everyone, “I cannot say this for certain, which is why I need to study it,” the room quieted, so he continued, “which brings me to my first question. Alexandra, Markus,” he nodded to the two respectfully, “have you two participated in any of the Artificial Neuron Operations?”

They shook their heads, Alexandra’s face scrunched up, “no, sorry Professor, but the whole idea makes me squeamish. Not to mention how I think its all a farce,” she seemed to realize who she was speaking to and quickly covered her mouth, “oh I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to insult-“

“No,” Klaus said before she could devolve into another tangent, “you’re right. It was nothing but a fabricated promotion for immortality. I was against it, personally.”

He sighed, “unfortunately I wasn’t near the top when it came to those decisions, so I had no say.”

Frederick crossed his arms and scowled, “I knew it,” he said.

“Who knew, the government wasn’t so clean after all,” Gonzalez said sarcastically.

“Anyway,” Klaus said, desperate to get back on track, “that’s good, you two just saved your own lives.”

“You think those things they injected our brains with had something to do with the transformation?” Gonzalez asked.

“Yes, which brings me to my second question. How come we haven’t transformed?”

As long-time members of the Aoidos program, Klaus -and likely Gonzalez- had been one of the first to be lined up for the operation, along with all the big-name celebrities, politicians, idols, etcetera. It was something that Klaus, once again, had no say in. the Director himself had claimed that it was ‘for a good cause’ and that the population would see it as something to look forward to in the future, rather than with skepticism and fear.

And look how well that had turned out.

Frederick cleared his throat, “um, myself as well.”

Everyone’s attention was drawn to the man in the back, who hunched into himself at the sudden attention.

“What do you mean?” Klaus was genuinely perplexed, “I was told you weren’t an official employee of the Rhadamanthus. Were you previously a worker at one of the other Beanstalks?”

 **“** Erm, no. I-I mean,” Frederick stuttered over his words, “there were other ways of getting access to the Artificial Neuron technology. I just happened to be part of the population that was lucky enough to be in line. Or, well, not so lucky anymore.”

Klaus scrubbed at his head. Alright then, now he had to deal with not just two, but three potential threats of mutation, including himself. Fredericks story was spotty at best, but he had no reason to not believe the man. It was a good thing he came clean at least.

“So… what do we do now?” Alexandra asked.

“I get to work,” Klaus said. He gestured to a small sampler bot that was making its rounds outside of the room. With a beep and a whistle, it zipped over to his side. The halls around the laboratories had become a lot more active ever since the power had been restored, it was reminiscent of the past even if there were less humans bustling around the area. It brought Klaus a small sense of normalcy to which he was grateful for.

“First I’ll need samples of the creature’s crystals. If you’ll excuse me.”

Klaus left the others to their devices and ordered the bot to follow him to the ether cell. The wall opened just so he and the bot could slip though and begin collecting samples. The creature remained still throughout the procedure, and approximately twenty minutes later, they were closing the wall behind them and leaving for Klaus’s lab.

This was going to take a while.

* * *

“Testing shows that there are indeed tracings of the Artificial Neuron nanobots within the crystals,” Klaus spoke into his recorder, which sat at the counter at his side. Mechanical arms held the crystal at eyes level behind the glass of his depository and research machine. The arms held it still as he stuck a hard needle into the stone. It snapped just as it breached the outer shell and Klaus heaved a sigh, throwing the needle into the growing pile of other broken utensils.

“The core crystal sample is far sturdier than expected, needle number twenty-five has broken after breach.”

He frowned when he reached into the box next to him and felt nothing. Apparently, he had already gone through all of his needles.

“Pneuma, find me another box. Or two.”

Emerald flashed around the room, “Of course, father.”

Right then. Klaus walked over to a small cupboard above the counter and fished around for his drill. He retrieved it successfully and strode back to the machine that still held the piece of crystal delicately in its hands. Time to get a little more drastic.

* * *

“Day seven, new entry. More studies show that the nanobots have somehow managed to fuse together to form the crystal.”

Purple flashed in the corner of Klaus’s eye.

“Ordinarily this would not be possible, but under further examination, this would appear to be because of the interference of ether.”

“Father?”

“This would also explain why the crystal’s disintegration rate is far slower when the monster is alive, rather than deceased. There is still a fair amount of ether left in the crystal to keep it stabilized after removal.”

“Uh, hello?”

“However,” Klaus cast a glance at the dusty remains of his previous attempts of breaking through old crystal samples, “It would seem that if even the slightest damage to the crystal is to occur, the ether alone is not enough to hold it together, and it shatters.”

“Hey! I’m right here!”

“Perhaps there is a long-term solution that can be made to keep the crystal stabilized unless it is heavily damaged. But for now, that is not my goal.”

“You know what? You asked for it.”

Klaus set down the recorder and rubbed at his eye. Galea would have been far better suited to this. She was always stronger in analytics.

“I do not believe there is a way to reverse the effects of the mutations.” Klaus spoke again, he rested his elbow on the counter and stared at the crystal through the glass, “but I think, given enough time, there is a chance that I can find a way to prevent it. A small chance, but it’s a chance I’m willing to take.”

He sat in silence for a moment, watching the flickering light in the crystal. This was an older sample, and it would not be much longer before it dusted like the rest.

There was a light ring, and an automated voice came on over the speakers, “Now playing: Klaus’s dinner bell.WAV.”

Klaus’s head perked up, and he frowned to himself. What was-

-he jumped as a loud airhorn blared over the speakers. He threw his hand to the side and caught himself on the counter before he hit the floor.

“Logos!” he yelled, and the sound abruptly cut off.

Purple lit up the entryway to his lab, “It’s dinner time,” Logos said, and then the light abruptly vanished as it made its escape, Klaus following not far behind in a blind rage.

* * *

“Ether reaction attempt number sixteen,” Klaus spoke into the recorder as he injected another sample of his blood into the tube that he had filled with pure ether. He had Pneuma gather as much as it could from the Conduit and deposit it for him into a clear, plastic tube that he could make small injections into. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked.

He watched in mild disappointment as his blood dripped to the bottom of the container, having no reaction to the ether. It was difficult to gauge how much ether was inside, as the tube was crystal clear. Like it was just oxygen rather than something else entirely.

“Attempt sixteen has the same result as the rest. There is no change in the blood from different areas of my body.”

He sighed, this next one was going to be painful. Perhaps Gonzalez could assist.

“Blood sample from the brain will be next. Signing off for now.”

He hit the power button and set the recorder down. He stretched his arm and looked up at the ceiling.

Klaus paused, and turned to the camera that sat on the ceiling across from where he stood.

“Pneuma, is there anyone on the cameras?”

“No, though Frederick was on them not too long ago. He is currently resting for the night.”

Klaus hummed, “Thank you, Pneuma.”

The green lights flashed, and then left him alone in the lab. He watched the camera for another second before shrugging to himself and prepared some of his other tools. He would have to collect more samples from the monster again.

He glanced at the camera as he made his way out of the lab and a shiver made its way up his spine. He could have sworn he saw it follow him.

* * *

_Day eighteen, the larger chunks of crystal removed from the monster last longer and are less susceptible to permanent damage._

Klaus tapped his pen against the notebook he had scrounged his office for. The recorder sat abandoned in a locked drawer across from him and he sat so his back was facing the camera, blocking the view to his notes.

_However, there is a limited amount of crystals on the monster, and I cannot waste any more samples unless I want to go find another ‘supplier’ so to speak. That would not be desired._

Klaus brushed a lock of hair that had fallen in his face and continued writing. He supposed he should be grateful that he was right-handed. His writing wasn’t the most legible, but Galea had once pestered him to write with his left for the day, and nobody had been able to read it. He remembered Logos had requested a leave when she tried to get it to decipher it.

_It is fascinating that when the crystal is exposed to large quantities of pure ether, it absorbs it and uses it as a source of energy. This crystal in particular reacts especially when around warmer temperatures. Perhaps there is an unknown elemental variable when it comes to the core crystals. If that is the case, it begs the question if the other monsters have different elemental characteristics._

The lock of hair fell back into Klaus’s face and he huffed at it. he brushed it back over his head and continued writing. He would deal with his hair later.

_It is already known that the nanotechnology was able to grant people an edge over diseases, but what if it were to be enhanced? If that technology were to be merged with cells throughout the body, it could potentially boost the very limit of the human body. Strength, senses, thoughts…_

Klaus paused and frowned at the page.

_Recovery._

_Alas it is not my job to study this, so those questions will have to remain unanswered._

_On another note, the test results from Gonzalez and Frederick have finished, their blood samples also having been taken from the brain. Curiously, at first there was no reaction from either study. Through further examination, it was determined that the neurobots had been shut down. They were able to be quickly restabilized with a controlled shock._

_Afterwards, Gonzalez’s neuron technology had similar reactions to mine. Though when exposed to a higher quantity of ether, his will crystalize. As opposed to mine, which will not._

_Frederick’s crystalized almost immediately upon high exposure, which is worrisome. I will have to inform him to stay away from the Conduits room, where the ether is generated from, in case his neurobots are somehow restarted._

Klaus shut the notebook and stretched. His arm popped and he winced. It had been a long few weeks of researching and trying to keep his head on his shoulders when collecting samples from a very irritated and drugged monster.

“Pneuma?” he asked.

“I am here, father,” Pneuma spoke from outside his lab. He had forbidden both it and Logos from entering while he worked. As much as he appreciated Logos and Pneuma’s help, he suspected something fowl was at play, even though the others didn’t quite believe him.

“How are the cameras that I told you to power off.”

“They are… on, father. You wanted me to turn them off?”

Case in point.

“Yes Pneuma, I want them off.”

The red light that came from the camera suddenly went dark and Klaus sighed, “thank you.”

The light came back on. Klaus groaned, “Pneuma!”

“Sorry father, it’s Frederick. He wanted to check something. He promises to turn them off when he is done.”

Klaus grumbled and hid his notes in the inside of his coat. He would have to find another place to work if this was going to keep happening. A few hours later, Klaus left the lab, eyeing the cameras that still hadn’t been turned off.

* * *

“Oh, for the love of- Pneuma! Turn on the lights please,” Gonzalez’s said.

The storage closet suddenly lit up, and Klaus yelped, frantically scrambling over his notes, “Pneuma! Turn them off!”

Pneuma wordlessly obeyed.

“Lights on.” Gonzalez said again, this time a bit more forcefully.

“Pneuma! No.”

The lights stayed off.

Gonzalez crossed his arms, his form was lit up from behind as the light from the hall filtered into the dark room, “You’re going to ruin your eyesight.”

“I don’t care,” Klaus mumbled, he sifted through his notes that he had scrambled in an attempt to hide from the light.

“You’re not working in your lab anymore.”

“There’s no cameras in here.”

“Klaus, it’s been weeks. Let it go.”

“I’m almost done.”

Gonzalez placed a hand over the page Klaus was reading and leaned close. Klaus flinched back at the thump of his hand against the floor.

“There’s nobody else here but us. Pneuma and Logos have both scanned the entire Beanstalk inside out and have found nothing,” Gonzalez said calmly.

Klaus shook, “My research keeps disappearing when I look away. The cameras keep following me. Pneuma and Logos can’t be relied on for this.”

“You’ve slept maybe once this week. Hell, nobody has seen you leave this room in three days. Klaus, buddy, you need to slow down.”

Gonzalez glanced behind him at the dim glow of purple and green that sat just outside of the closet, unable to go inside at Klaus’s orders, “And you know that’s not true, about Logos and Pneuma.”

“Almost done.”

“Right, okay we’re calling a meeting,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez picked up Klaus by the arm who flailed for a moment until he steadied himself on his feet. He stooped down and grabbed Klaus’s scattered notes and handed them over to him. Klaus stuffed them into a binder that he had taken to always carrying around and slammed it closed with shaking hands.

“Pneuma, Logos, could you go fetch the others and let them know we’ll be meeting in our old med bay?”

“Of course,” Pneuma said, and they both vanished quickly.

Klaus lunged after them but was held back by Gonzalez’s arm. He stumbled but managed to correct himself.

“What are you doing,” he hissed at Gonzalez, “you’re going to get them hurt! They can’t wander unsupervised!”

Gonzalez began dragging him out of the closet and they made their way down the hall, “No they won’t, Prof. They’ll be fine. Besides, I thought you said they can’t get hurt.”

For some reason Klaus’s brain decided to do the equivalent of a blue screen and he blanked. Had he said that? He did, didn’t he. Why didn’t he want them wandering again? There was something about the cameras. The cameras were following him. Someone was on the cameras.

“Who’s on cameras?” he asked.

Gonzalez gave him a look that he couldn’t bother to read, “nobody. They’re all off, see?”

He gestured to a camera as they passed, the red light was off. Klaus shook his head.

“No, that’s not how they work,” he said.

“What do you mean? The light is off, so the cameras are off. It’s not that hard Prof.” Gonzalez shook him slightly, “are you sure you were sleeping that one time I checked on you? Because I’m beginning to think you weren’t.”

“They’re learning. I don’t know how they’re doing it. They turn the cameras on when they’re off.”

Klaus frowned at his own sentence. On when they’re off? The cameras are never off. Off… Where did Pneuma and Logos go? Their lights weren’t back yet. The corridor was dark.

Klaus didn’t realize that they had made it to their destination until Gonzalez sat him down on a cot. Pneuma and Logos followed in behind them quickly, both purple and green lighting up the room. Klaus hugged the notes closer to himself.

The sound of chatter was picked up by Klaus’s ear, and not much longer, the rest joined them in the small room. There was just enough space for each of them to find their own spot, and they looked to Gonzalez expectantly. Alexandra and Markus hung close to each other near the back, as they had been these last few weeks, likely due to learning about what exactly Klaus had been studying. Frederick lurked near the doorway, like he was getting ready to bolt at any moment.

“What’d you call us here for Professor?” Markus asked.

“It’s about Klaus,” Gonzalez started and there was a barely suppressed groan from Markus, “I just want all of you guys to confirm where you’ve been these last few days. Klaus believes there’s something going on with our systems.”

Alexandra and Markus shared looks, “well, mostly we’ve been checking our defense systems and looking for survivors,” Alexandra said, “do you guys even realize how many mechs we’ve got stored downstairs?”

Klaus knew that they were right. He was the one who told them to do that in the first place. At least they were listening to him. His eye drifted over to Frederick who shuffled in place and remained silent until Gonzalez called on him.

“Oh, uh, I’ve actually been on the cameras, sorry Klaus,” he said, “but other than that, I’ve mostly been tinkering with the virtual defense systems, nothing too drastic,” he added, waving his hands, “just keeping updates on the programs ever since Pneuma and Logos have started crashing.”

He crossed his arms back over his chest and hunched into himself as the conversation started back up again. He looked up when he noticed Klaus’s staring and waved awkwardly.

“Frederick, what were you interviewing here for again?” Klaus asked.

The chatter fell silent and Frederick wrung his hands, “Oh uh, programming. It’s a bit of a talent of mine? I sorta picked it up after high school,” he laughed, “I guess Aoidos liked my resume and offered me the interview.”

“And that’s how you broke into the room?”

Frederick blinked, then started, “O-oh, yeah I did do that, didn’t I? Um, the others were already there trying to get in to stop you, so I kinda offered my services?”

Klaus was careful to keep his expression blank. He eyed Fredericks fingertips, “of course. It’s impressive you managed to get in so easily. Are you skilled in hacking?”

“Um, not really? I mean yes. I mean… I’m talented in that department as well. It’s not something I want to pursue or anything.”

Frederick straightened against the wall and winced. He rubbed his chest.

“Frederick?” Markus asked, “how’s your wound doing? You’ve been coming along well.”

“Ah, it’s better actually. Most of the pain is gone by now.”

Klaus frowned. That was awfully fast. There wasn’t any way Frederick could have recovered that quickly, unless he had somehow gotten his hands on some pretty high-level neuro technology. But… there was no way that had been open to the general public, let alone people who weren’t important or famous in some way.

“Okay,” Gonzalez clapped his hands together, “so there’s that. Pneuma and Logos, do you guys have any updates on our surveillance for survivors?”

Frederick slumped after the attention was directed away from him, but he startled again when he noticed Klaus was still watching him. He fiddled with his hands. Klaus finally looked away and down at his notes that were still pressed tightly against him.

It just didn’t make any sense. Out of the three of them, Frederick was really the only outlier. Not to mention the technology he had been injected with looked different than what Klaus and Gonzalez had. They were deactivated though. So how was it possible that Frederick was healing so quickly if the neurobots were only located in the brain? Unless…

Klaus’s breath stopped, clogged in his own throat. His grip tightened painfully against the binder and he set it down next to him. He forced himself to breathe, the air escaping though his teeth in a hiss.

Unless that wasn’t the only place he had injected himself with. And they had to be injected by professionals, this wasn’t something you took home and did yourself. Not unless it was stolen. Stolen by people who knew how computers worked like the back of their hands and could modify them.

Klaus saw red. A distant thrum sounded at the back of his mind like a swarm of angry wasps.

“Okay,” Frederick’s voice pierced through the fog in Klaus’s brain and he seethed, “you guys seem to have this handled so I’m just going to leave it to you. Call me if you need any-hrrk!”

Frederick shot into the air and was swung against the wall, the crack from the impact startling everyone in the room. Someone screamed. Klaus couldn’t find himself to care. He stalked closer to the struggling man, arm outstretched and fingers clawed. Golden light weaved around Frederick, pinning him in place as he struggled for any kind of purchase.

Markus was the first to recover, “Man what the hell!” he yelled, “what is wrong with you?”

Klaus hardly recognized his own voice, low and rough, “it was you…”

Someone, Markus likely, strode towards him and grabbed his shoulder, pushing him back, “What is going on here? Put him down!”

Klaus glared at him, and Markus stepped back, eyes widening. He held his hands up in a peaceful gesture.

“Okay, look. You need to put him down, Professor. This isn’t you.”

Klaus snarled, “get back!” and Markus was blown away by an invisible wind. His back hit the wall and Gonzalez quickly ran over to help him up.

A choked sound came from Frederick and Klaus turned his attention back to him. He continued his slow walk forward, watching the man grapple with the strands of golden light. When he was close enough to touch him, Klaus spoke again.

“You hurt them.”

Frederick's eyes widened in sudden clarity and realization that Klaus knew, and the fear emanating from him was nearly palpable. Sweat began to beat on his face.

“Okay, okay I know what this looks like, but it wasn’t me, Klaus I swear on my life I left them a long time ago- “

Klaus pulled Frederick back and slammed him against the wall again, a cry of pain tore out of the other man’s throat. Exclamations from around the room sounded, and Klaus scowled at them until they fell silent. Gonzalez held Markus and Alexandra behind him, their faces twisted into fear.

“Prof, what is…” Gonzalez fell silent under his glare and swallowed. He eyed Frederick, who had begun stammering some pathetic excuse again.

“I wouldn’t hurt them, Klaus. Please listen to me I’m not a- “

“-Why shouldn’t I kill you right now?” Klaus sneered up at the man, who trembled in his unyielding grip, “Rebel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been waiting, waiting for this day!
> 
> Obvious disclaimer: I’m not a scientist. My brain nearly exploded when I wrote the last half of this chapter. I had to google the definition of ‘variable’.
> 
> This chapter is by far the biggest I’ve ever written, and it likely will be the longest chapter in this story. It's mostly because I wouldn't stop going back and editing it so it would flow better XD  
> Thanks for reading!


	9. Saviors/Disillusion

Klaus remembered the first time the sky burned black and grey, and glowing red embers replaced the stars. People lay either dead or dying on the streets from the stampeding crowds that were too caught up in their own war to look down. Smoke had choked his sinuses and left him feeling dizzy and disoriented.

He remembered through the flames and the haze he saw the ones behind the chaos and uprisings, standing above the rubble and the bodies scattered across the streets. Their voices had been nearly deafened by the roar of the crowds that pushed against police officers who fought back with bullets and shields that sparked with electricity. Their faces were covered by intricate mechanical masks, and their tone was automated to hide their identities.

They had once called themselves the Voice of the People, but even as a child Klaus had seen the hypocrisy in their words as blood was spilt on both sides of the battlefield that had once been his neighbourhood. He hadn’t stopped running since his mother had ordered him to when police practically armed to the teeth stormed his home.

The blood mixed into the muddy earth and his sneakers slipped and slid through the shortcut in the woods that would take him to the city. The sound of gunfire and shouting was even louder there, and Klaus held his hands over his ears, squeezing his raw eyes shut. His foot snagged on something, and he flailed wildly with a yelp, tumbling down a short bank and into a small river that had been caused by the rainfall the night before.

The cold water stung his skin, and a sob escaped him in a rush. He wanted to go home but his mother had told him not to look back. An earth-shattering roar came from above and Klaus curled into a ball as another rocket was launched overhead. An explosion that sent dirt and rubble flying even over him came not soon after. Loud barking and snarling came from the path above as a team of K9’s lead a retaliation against the explosion.

He waited until the dogs and footsteps faded into the distance before forcing himself up. It took him a few tries, the water and mud mixing into a slippery sludge that kept making him fall back down. Eventually, he found his grip and pulled himself out of the bank, his clothes clung to his bruised and sore body.

When he reached the city, he kept running, ducking and weaving around the police and people who looked a lot scarier than the officers back in his town. They were dressed in green and held weapons that were a lot bigger than what the cops had.

Eventually somebody found him, ushering him into the giant tower that rose higher than the sky where a bunch of other kids had been gathered, some sobbing and screaming, while others sat still like him, eyes unseeing and unresponsive.

Klaus remembered someone handing him a packet of juice and a snack, asking him questions he couldn’t hear over the ringing in his ears.

He remembered someone handing him a pillow and a blanket, and the lights going out. He couldn’t remember if he had fallen asleep that night.

* * *

The first thing Klaus felt when he woke up was the headache that was drilling into his skull, the rapid and unceasing pulse sending a spiral of colours into his field of vision. His mouth was dry, and his tongue felt stuck to the roof of his mouth. There was a minty aftertaste that heavily coated the inside of his mouth.

His body felt heavy and numb, so he remained where he was. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed. He thought he heard movement nearby, but it faded away like echoes of a memory long past. The colours behind his eyelids faded away one by one into a comforting nothingness, until nothing was left but violet and emerald. The pain eventually faded with those as well, and finally he could breathe easier. With a sigh, he fell back under.

Frederick.

Klaus shot up with a start, a blanket tangled with his legs sent him over the edge of the cot and he hit the ground with a thud. His limbs felt unresponsive and clumsy, not quite moving the way he wanted them to. His head was fuzzy, but his thoughts were coming back to him clearer and clearer as time passed. He shivered against the cold, hard floor of the medical room until his fingers and arm responded to his command.

Had he… been _drugged_?

His memories were muddy, but he remembered the kindling anger in his chest and the hold he had on Frederick, a Saviorite Rebel, as he begged and pleaded to Klaus to let him go. There had been pleading from the others as well, wanting him to release Frederick and explain himself but… after that it was a blurry mess of confusion.

He forced himself up with a groan, and his legs immediately crumpled under him, knocking him into a shelf and sending what sounded like scattering papers to the floor. There was barely any light in the room, and it resembled more of the walk-in closet it had used to be before they adapted it into the emergency medical room it was known for now.

He used the shelf to pull himself up and he lunged for the door. He wasn’t surprised that it was locked when he checked it, and he let his head fall against the door with a dull thump.

“Pneuma?” he asked, his voice came out a scratchy mess, so he cleared it and tried again, “Pneuma?”

There wasn’t a response. Klaus tried the door again, but it remained locked.

“Logos?” he tried this time, but the purple AI didn’t heed his call either and Klaus jiggled the door a little more forcefully.

“Hello?” he called out, hoping at least someone would hear him, “is anyone out there?”

He banged his fist against the door, but nobody responded. Klaus slumped against the door and slid until he sat on the floor. He toyed with the card that was still in his pocket.

He was just thinking of blasting the damned thing open when a small bit of green light slowly filtered through from underneath the door, stopping just before entering the room.

“Father. You’re awake,” Pneuma spoke slowly.

“Yes, it’s about time you heard me. How long has it been?”

“Almost three days, about five hours away, in fact.”

Ah, so that’s why there wasn’t anyone outside, and why he felt a little more refreshed than usual. Quite the power nap someone had forced on him. He wasn’t bitter.

“Fantastic,” he said, “could you let me out now then?”

There was silence on the other end, Klaus could hear the humming coming from the Conduits room, ever unceasing.

“Pneuma?” he asked again, a little impatient.

“I… am sorry, father. I cannot do that.”

Klaus frowned, “and why not?” he asked, trying to ignore the small sting that was left from Pneuma’s disobedience.

Pneuma took its time, “it was for your own safety. Your health was plummeting dangerously, and there would have been a very high chance that your confrontation could have ended in a loss of life. On both ends. So, I interfered. My apologies.”

Klaus blinked, then blinked again.

“ _You drugged me?_ ”

“I’m sorry!” Pneuma fretted, “you were not in your right state of mind, Professor Gonzalez was right. It was dangerous for everyone.”

“Pneuma’s right, you know? It almost got pretty bad back there.” Logos said.

“Ah, perfect timing,” Klaus spoke to the purple light leaking into the room next to Pneuma’s, “Logos, let me out.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Ye- ugh, just- ” Klaus scrubbed his hand in his hair and immediately pulled it back from the amount of grease and dirt that coated it. He wanted to throw something, but everything was out of his reach.

His eye roamed the messy room, and he caught sight of his notes that lay partially scattered on the ground. That must have been what he’d knocked over in his attempt to get up earlier. He would organize them later.

“It’s really late, you should go back to sleep,” Logos said finally.

Klaus grunted, “Maybe I should just break down the door and let myself out.”

There was a whirring sound and a small hiss that Klaus had associated with the tranquilizers that Pneuma and Logos were armed with. He quickly scrambled away from the door, “Okay, okay! I’m going.”

He dragged himself back over to the cot and curled on his side, leaving the blanket on the floor. It was uncomfortable against his side anyway. He watched the door, Pneuma and Logos hadn’t moved from their places.

The silence grate against his ear, and he huffed.

“You two have anywhere else to be or do you have a question?”

“Yeah, we’re staying here in case you decide to try and break out,” Logos snapped at him.

Klaus rolled his eye, “please. The noise would just wake everyone up. It wouldn’t matter.”

“Okay, then explain exactly what you were planning on doing when you threatened us with that earlier.”

Klaus paused, then snorted, “I haven’t had my coffee yet,” he said.

A curious sound came from the other end of the door, like laughter, “sure, father. Whatever you say.”

Klaus fiddled with a piece of unravelling string on the cot. His gaze eventually drifted back over to where Pneuma and Logos both waited still. He knew they knew he was awake; they must just be waiting for him to fall back to sleep.

“…Where’s Frederick?” he asked.

They were quiet, then Pneuma answered, “in another temporary holding cell, like you.”

Oh, is that what they were calling it now?

“You sure he’s still in there?” Klaus asked.

“Yup,” Logos said, “still there. We’re keeping a tight surveillance on the both of you, under Professor Gonzalez’s orders.”

Of course he was taking charge now. Well, it was certainly better than nothing and Klaus relaxed a fraction. At least they weren’t letting a Saviorite Rebel run free while they slept.

His eye was just slipping closed when Logos spoke up, “father?”

He blinked himself back to awareness and looked to the door, the purple and green lights hadn’t moved an inch.

“… Never mind.”

Klaus groaned dramatically, “oh come on, you got me up. What is it?”

Logos didn’t speak, but Pneuma did, its voice filtered though small and hesitant, like it was second guessing itself.

“Do you… really think that still?” Pneuma asked.

“Think what?”

“We’re… still just machines? ‘Only meant for humanities benefit or destruction,’ as you once put it.”

Klaus snapped his mouth shut, he glared at the wall.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Logos said, and its voice was void of any of the strange emotional beats it picked up during its time with Klaus. It unnerved him greatly when he thought it really shouldn’t.

Klaus rubbed his face, and looked to the ceiling, an endless blank canvass. The fan that sat in the middle was off for which Klaus was grateful for. It was chilly enough already.

He spoke quietly, “not… exactly.” He didn’t check if Pneuma and Logos were listening, so he let his mouth run.

“You know the human lifecycle. I was very young and naive when we first met, as well as into many of my later years. I didn’t listen to my superiors when they warned me not to get carried away, but I did. And it cost a life.”

The AI was silent, so Klaus kept talking, “you broke a trust I had built onto you three, and I don’t think in all my years anything had hurt more than that moment.”

His hand found his pocket, and the rough edge of the card bit into his already sore palm.

“Sometimes I wish I could still have that blind trust in you that I used to have,” he finished quietly.

The light outside his room dimmed, and damn it all if he didn’t feel his metaphorical heart drop a little.

 _This is stupid_ , he thought as he sat back up in bed, throwing his legs over the side of the cot and staggering to his feet. He stood easier this time and walked over to the door. He kneeled in front of the dim light that drifted through the open crack between the door and the wall.  
He lowered his hand towards the light, and they both brightened imperceptibly. He shouldn’t be doing this, but before he could change his mind, tendrils of light curled delicately around his fingers. Small electric pulses raced across his skin where they touched, like he was holding a cat’s purr.

“I would be a hypocrite if I never forgave you,” he whispered and for a moment he thought they hadn’t heard him, but the light tightened its hold and despite the pain he smiled, “I suppose it’s never too late to rebuild.”

Pneuma laughed softly, and Klaus rested his head against the door, closing his eye.

“We’re still not letting you out,” Logos said, and Klaus barked a laugh, surprising himself.

“Drat, I really thought that would’ve worked,” he said.

He could already start to feel himself drift, so he forced himself up with a yawn, breaking the delicate hold Pneuma and Logos had on his fingers.

He tapped the door with a finger, “be careful while watching Frederick, okay? You can’t trust him.”

“Of course,” Pneuma said as Klaus hit the cot, “thank you, father.”

Klaus grumbled, “you’re still grounded for drugging me.”

“What was that?” Logos asked.

Louder, Klaus spoke, “I said stop calling me that.” Immediate laughter followed from both Pneuma and Logos and he threw his pillow at the door. It fell just short of his desired aim and he groaned, flopping back onto the cot. He regretted his choice as the laughter didn’t stop but got louder. Despite the painful strain that tugged at his lips, he stubbornly grabbed the blanket to use as a makeshift pillow and rolled away from the door and closed his eye.

* * *

Light filtered through his eyelid and he burrowed deeper into the cot, throwing an arm over his face in an attempt to block it out.

“Professor? Pneuma told us you were awake last night,” Alexandra’s voice drifted into his ear and he grumbled. Did Pneuma also mention that he was sleeping right now?

“If you’re awake, we need to talk,” she said.

Klaus gave up on trying to return to sleep and peered over his arm, blinking away the spots in his vision that was brought by the bright lights having suddenly been turned on in the room. Alexandra stood between him and the door, fiddling with a ring on her pinky finger. She started at his movement and took a small step back.

“Um, Pneuma said you were feeling better? So, we’re going to meet up and talk. Gonzalez and Markus went to get Frederick.”

Logos filtered into the room, the dark purple easier on his still adjusting eyes. A tendril of light sparked to life next to Klaus, not unlike the ones from the night before. Before Klaus could react, it poked him on the forehead and Klaus yelped.

“Ow! Logos!”

Logos made a noise that sounded like a snicker, “like my new trick? I don’t have slippers to rub on a carpet, but I think this does the job just as well.”

Klaus rubbed his forehead and sat up, glaring at the purple light. He nodded to Alexandra who was obviously fighting back a smile, “lead the way, please.”

She wrung her hands nervously but nodded back and began making her way out of the room. Klaus followed behind shortly, sidestepping the pillow that still lay in the middle of the floor.

He followed Alexandra where she eventually led him to the Trinity Processor room. He couldn’t help but think that this room was being used a little more often than usual, and under normal circumstances he wouldn’t complain. His gaze drifted over to Logos’s and Pneuma’s cores, which still sat snugly within the Processor. Having their cores so exposed and in the open sat uncomfortably with Klaus, especially with Frederick so nearby.

Speaking of, everyone else had already been gathered around an unbroken desk and chairs. Klaus noticed that Frederick wasn’t being restrained and he grit his teeth. Were they just going to ignore his accusations completely?

“Okay,” Gonzalez said after Klaus begrudgingly sat down with the rest of them, not taking his eye off Frederick, “we’re all here. You feeling better today, Klaus?”

“Peachy.”

“Right. Well while you were resting,” Klaus scoffed, and Gonzalez gave him a hard look before continuing, “Frederick told us that you were right. He was a Saviorite Rebel.”

Klaus stood, his chair clattering to the floor, “and yet you’re letting him sit with you all unrestrained? He’s dangerous!”

Alexandra and Markus both flinched back, but Gonzalez held his gaze. Frederick sunk into his seat and refused to meet Klaus’s scathing glare.

“Sit down, Klaus. If you’ll let us, there’s an explanation for that.” Gonzalez said.

Klaus set his chair upright and sat with a huff. Fine, he’d listen. But he wasn’t going to be happy about it. He tapped his fingers impatiently on the armchair.

“Keyword being ‘was’. He _was_ a Saviorite Rebel,” Gonzalez said.

“How do you know he isn’t lying to you?”

Gonzalez and Frederick exchanged glances, “I don’t,” Gonzalez said after a moment, “but I like to think I’m a good judge of character, and I don’t think he’s lying.”

“A ‘good judge of character’ isn’t going to help anybody right now. What we need to do is lock him up and keep him away from any terminal or computer. Permanently.”

“And I agree,” Gonzalez leaned towards Klaus, “but that’s literally all we’ve got right now. We can’t afford any more deaths, Klaus. Because to be brutally honest, this is it. We are it.”

Klaus snaked his hand into his pocket and gripped the card with such a force that a small part of his mind was scared he would snap it. He forced himself to take a breath, and he released it.

“You’re right,” Klaus said quietly, then to Frederick, “I… apologize for my outburst earlier. I don’t want anyone’s death to come to pass by my own hands. Especially not now.”

“You weren’t thinking right,” Frederick said, his voice only shook a little, “besides, I don’t blame you.”

Klaus cocked his head and Frederick began fiddling with the hems of his sleeves now that the attention was back on him, “I know what the Saviorite Rebels did was awful, and I don’t think I could ever imagine what sort of effects they had on everyone here,” he rubbed his arm, his eyes downcast, “I guess I was just some dumb kid who thought he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. I was entranced by their words and everything they stood for.”

Markus huffed, “don’t feel too bad, they got their claws in my sister once. She used to go to the riots until a bullet to the shoulder and some long nights worth of conversations brought her back to reality.”

Alexandra was quiet, “they got to my dad, but he didn’t make it out. Said he’d rather die for a cause rather than let the government trample over us.”

She looked up at Klaus who shrugged, he went to cross his arm but aborted it quickly, instead settling for shoving his hand back into his pocket, “you know my story. I don’t particularly care for them.”

“Yeah, we gathered,” Markus said, and Klaus sneered at him.

“So why did you leave?” Gonzalez asked, and the attention was brought back to Frederick who was picking away at some dirt on the table.

“I… I was asked to do something against my own personal morals,” he said, glancing up at Klaus, “I left that night, because I wasn’t sure if they’d kill me for disobeying.”

He shivered and dropped his eyes to the floor, “I didn’t think they would ever stoop so low to murder, but I guess in hindsight it was bound to happen. They were growing power-hungry.”

“They wanted you to _kill_ somebody?” Alexandra asked incredulously.

Frederick’s face twisted into a grimace, “A child, no less. I was lucky I managed to escape with my life when I left. Had to forge a brand-new identity.”

Gonzalez was frowning, “that doesn’t make sense,” he said, “what good would the death of a child bring them? Were they important?”

“W-well…”

“You said they were power hungry? What sort of advantage would that child have given them?”

“Honestly, I don’t know. Not… maybe not at first,” Frederick said. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and squeezing his hands. When he opened them again, Klaus was nearly taken aback by the resolve in his eyes.

“Not long after I left, I also began searching for the child. Turns out, I think it was you, Klaus.”

Klaus stiffened, “what?”

“I couldn’t do anything, not with a target on my own back. But I kept an eye out on you, and eventually when I felt safe enough, I tried taking a job here so I could watch you. Make sure they didn’t find a replacement for myself,” he laughed bitterly, “I guess both of our plans didn’t pan out the way we wanted them to.”

Klaus felt heat rush to his face, and his hand gripped Galea’s card tighter. Humans and their motives. Sometimes he wished he could just pry open someone’s brain and see what they were really thinking. What dark, sick, twisted desires they would kill for.

He tried to push the thought that Frederick really was supposed to kill him to the back of his mind and focused on a new question this all brought forth.

“Why me in particular?”

Frederick shrugged, “I don’t know, Professor. I didn’t bother staying long enough to find out.”

The Trinity Processor sat innocently behind Frederick. Inside, Pneuma and Logos’s cores beat together in sync, the empty slot next to them still stood out to him like a sore thumb and Klaus’s chest twinged. Frederick twisted in his chair to see where Klaus was looking.

“I wasn’t anything special as a child, except for the fact I was the only one allowed to communicate with the Trinity. Perhaps they thought without me, they were all for the taking.”

Frederick spun back around to look at him, his face paled significantly. He quickly stood from his seat, his chair screeching behind him. Gonzalez and Klaus both rose with him, Gonzalez looked ready to tackle the other man if he tried anything, and Klaus’s fingers tingled with unleashed ether energy. Frederick threw his hands up frantically when he realized the commotion he had caused.

“Sorry, sorry! You guys need to let me check the Processor, like now.”

Klaus frowned, “why?”

“Pneuma and Logos are at their weakest, they’re still recovering from shutdowns and not to mention our defenses aren’t completely back online.”

Markus and Alexandra had scrambled to their feet during the commotion and now stood next to Gonzalez, who gave them a short nod. Immediately, they both took off towards the Processor.

“You tell them what to look for,” Gonzalez said to Frederick, who swallowed thickly.

“I-I don’t think I can.”

“Then you tell us exactly what’s happening, Frederick.”

“Is anyone else getting a sense of déjà vu?” Logos asked.

Klaus snapped, “Logos, shut it!”

“Please, Professor Klaus,” Frederick turned pleading eyes to him, “you have to let me check. Just trust me.”

Klaus stared at the man who was practically on his hands and knees begging to stick his nose into extremely confidential code, and yet he couldn’t help but see the sincerity behind his eyes. Klaus flicked his gaze up to where Alexandra and Markus now stood protectively in front of the cores. He couldn’t say he trusted Frederick but… he hadn’t done them any harm thus far, had he?

“I…” Frederick opened his mouth, but shut it as Klaus spoke, “I can’t. Not with them. I’m sorry.”

The other man lowered his head, eyes closed in Klaus assumed was resignation, “no, it’s fine,” his shoulders heaved as he took a breath, “then I don’t really have much of a choice, do I?”

Klaus flexed his hand, “what do you mean?”

“Before… all of this, while you were doing your research, I’ve been scouring the data files and camera footage that hadn’t been corrupted. I noticed a pattern, it took me a bit, but there definitely was one.”

Frederick raised his head to the ceiling, something dangerous glinting in his eyes, “whenever Logos or Pneuma would come across a certain section of the beanstalk they would short out, and have their memories wiped. Each time this happened, it would be closer and closer to our location, and now that I think about it, closer to the Conduit and the cores.”

“I think there are more survivors, ones that don’t want to be caught,” Frederick said, and Klaus was caught off guard.

“You don’t mean…” Gonzalez trailed off.

“Yeah. The Saviorite Rebels are here, and now that they know I’ve found them out, they’re about to come knocking on that door any second now.”

Klaus was still reeling as Gonzalez spoke, “what? How would they know- “

“-Their roots are burrowed deep into the system now, Professor Gonzalez. Its likely whatever Logos and Pneuma are seeing, they’re seeing too. They must have woken up after Klaus restored power to the Rhadamanthus,” his eyes narrowed, “which is what I was afraid of.”

“So…” Alexandra wrung her hands and took a step back, likely trying to distance herself from the door.

Klaus finally found his voice, “woken up?” he asked.

“Like I said Professor, they got power hungry. Nothing beats good old technology when it comes to replacing human body parts. I left a while ago, but even then I remember they were considering it. I don’t know what they’ll be like now, so it’s best that we take this seriously.”

“Father!” Pneuma’s voice came in high and frantic, “there’s multiple life forms headed in your direction, they’re not bothering to disguise themselves.”

“Can you tell us how many exactly?” Klaus asked.

“Three.”

“Shit,” Frederick murmured, running his hands through his hair.

“Block that entrance!” Markus shouted, and he turned to the Trinity Processor’s control panel, “I’ll see what I can do about securing the cores!”

Klaus jerked forward, “Don’t you dare remove them, Markus! They need to be in that Processor!”

“We got it!” Alexandra called back and Klaus reluctantly let them go, following Markus and Frederick to the front of the room and were already instructing Logos and Pneuma to lock the doors.

“How much time do we have until contact?” Klaus asked no one in particular.

“You’ve got about twenty seconds to brace yourself, they’re coming in hot,” Logos warned.

Frederick shot past Klaus and ran up to the Processor, shoving Markus and Alexandra out of the way despite their exclamations. A few seconds later he stepped away from the panel, and Klaus could see that the thick, metal cover had slid into place to cover the cores.

“Did some adjusting, I doubt anything is getting in there now, not without our permission.”

He motioned for Alexandra and Markus to follow him away from the Processor and they quickly made their way over to Klaus. A loud bang stopped them in their tracks. Klaus spun around and saw a massive dent in the door that must have been the source of the noise.  
Without a second’s hesitation, he threw his arm to the side and grabbed as many desks as he could with his golden light and shoved them into the entryway. He set his jaw and forced the metal to warp around itself until it formed a twisted looking wall.

“Hopefully that buys us some time, quick thinking there, Prof.”

Klaus nodded at Gonzalez and took a step back when another bang came from the other side.

“Klaus now might be a good time for Pneuma and Logos to use that lightning trick from earlier,” Markus said.

He shook his head, “That will kill them, I can’t…”

“Oh, for the love of-” Markus grabbed him by the shirt, “-they’re going to kill us if we don’t do anything about it!”

“I can’t have any more blood on my hands, Markus!” Klaus shouted back, his voice broke, “I can’t.”

Markus snarled and shoved him back, “fine. Logos, Pneuma! Get ready to fire at them as soon as you have a visual!”

Pneuma was silent, and for a moment Klaus thought there wouldn’t be a response. He hung his head, waiting for Pneuma’s inevitable agreement to help keep him alive at all costs.

“The choice is yours, father.”

Klaus’s head shot up in surprise, “what?”

He could almost picture a smile on Pneuma’s non-existent face, “I made a promise, did I not? If following your wishes, as short-sighted as they may be, means to regain your trust then so be it.”

“Pneuma…” another bang from the door made them all flinch. Klaus was suddenly acutely aware of the others in the room, moving closer to each other as the door slowly caved in with each blow. He bit his cheek, he really didn’t have much of a choice after all, not with everyone else here and in danger.

He reached into his pocket and gave Galea’s card a quick squeeze, “Pneuma, Logos… don’t use up too much energy. Fire at will.”

“Very well,” came Pneuma’s voice not soon after, and Klaus hung his head.

“Excellent, because I was totally planning on doing it anyway,” Logos said, and the image of a tiny purple form cracking their knuckles sprung into Klaus’s mind, “it’s payback time.”

The sounds stopped and the room fell into a tense silence. Klaus could hear Pneuma and Logos practically sparking from behind.

A high-pitched whine sounded from beyond the wall, and Frederick shouted, “get down!” just in time for the wall to explode inwards, shrapnel flying into different directions. Smoke billowed into the room and Klaus could hardly see anything aside from the shadowy figures on the other end.

“Fine,” Klaus muttered between coughs, “Pneuma! Logos!”, and the multi-coloured lightning responded to his call, striking dead ahead and nearly whiting out the room.

It faded away, and Klaus felt the blood drain from his face when he saw the figures still standing there, like they hadn’t been phased.

“Oh yikes, that could’ve been the end of us.” A voice drifted through the smog, and stepped forward along with others, who followed at their side. All their faces were covered in intricate silver masks, a tinted visor sat in the middle, making it difficult for Klaus to spot any facial expressions.

The one in the middle stepped over the rubble and made a beeline for Klaus and grabbed him by the shirt, hoisting him upwards, and Klaus gasped.

“You must be Professor Klaus,” She spoke. The automated voice was gone, leaving her speech clear and unaltered. She easily hoisted him into the air, which was quickly made clear how when Klaus tried to get her to let go by hitting her arm, but instead ending up with only a very sore hand and an unbudging grip that tightened against him. Great. The arm was mechanical.

The shorter one that had spoken first giggled from behind, “Heya!”  
The third and the tallest, remained stoic and silent. Klaus noted that all four limbs were obviously mechanical. It was nearly impossible to tell where the biological body and the mechanical parts began and ended on both.

“I would say it’s nice to finally meet in person,” the one holding him spoke and Klaus kicked the air, desperately trying to escape from her grip, “but I have a feeling you won’t be reciprocating those feelings.”

Through the visor, Klaus could barely make out a smile, “you can call me Seraphiel. Why don’t we have a chat.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They’re here!!!!!!!!! It only took 5 extra chapters!!!!!!! But they’re here!!!!!!
> 
> In all seriousness though, has anyone here written about the Saviorite Rebels? Please tell me if you have or if someone else has! I’d love to see people’s interpretation of them!  
> So many amazing works to read and so little time to make for them. 😢


	10. Murderer/Desolation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH NO I forgot to add my chapter notes lol, sorry guys
> 
> If you didn’t see the updated tag, see end notes for spoiler CW. (Or don’t, I’m not your emotional, sleep deprived Professor ;P)

Klaus struggled against the Saviorite Rebel’s unyielding grip, still trying to break himself free. He gave up eventually and fell panting against her hand. There was no use, he was stuck. Seraphiel quirked her head to the side, watching him tire himself out in a fruitless struggle.

“Are you done?” she asked. He kicked the air in defiance.

“Seraphiel, let him go,” he heard Frederick from somewhere close by and he tried breaking out once more, but he couldn’t muster anything more than another kick.

“Ah, Azrael, its good to see you’re still up and around,” Seraphiel said, and Klaus paused, catching his breath. Azrael?

“I don’t go by that name anymore,” Frederick said, and Klaus was surprised by the strength behind his voice. He didn’t think he’d ever heard such conviction from the other man before.

“Aw, you were one of us, Azzy,” The smaller girl spoke up, and she practically trotted around Seraphiel and over to Frederick. Klaus heard him shuffling back frantically, “it hurt us when you left without warning, you know? We were like a family.”

“Yeah, probably because you were gonna kill him,” Markus said.

Klaus twisted frantically in Seraphiel’s iron grip, “Markus! Don’t provoke them!”

“One of our own? Why we couldn’t,” The girl sniffed, and Klaus rolled his eye so hard it hurt.

“Gadriel, please don’t antagonize our hostages,” Seraphiel said, and the girl whined.

“Hostages?” Markus laughed, “so that’s what we are?”

There was the sound of flesh hitting flesh and Klaus’s blood ran cold. He twisted over himself to look over his shoulder, and he relaxed when he noticed Gonzalez sitting next to Markus, who was giving the other man a mean look.

“Uriel,” Seraphiel ignored the commotion happening behind Klaus, and the giant stepped forward, “grab the cores.”

Uriel nodded, “Yes, Seraphiel,” and he stomped by them, making his way towards the Trinity Processor.

“What? No!” Klaus kicked the air between him and Seraphiel again, “You can’t remove them! We’ll lose all power! We’ll lose them!”

“Exactly, Professor Klaus. Now, there’s no need to get emotional over it, hm?” Seraphiel paused, tilting her head to the side, watching him struggle curiously, “after all, they’re only just machines. Strings of code you’ve attached yourself to.”

“They’re not… Just machines,” Klaus grabbed her hand, ether sparking at the tips of his fingers, showering the space between them with golden embers, “now let me go!”

With a violent push, ether exploded between Klaus and Seraphiel. A loud crack echoed around the room and Klaus hit the floor with a grunt. Seraphiel held her limp arm to her side, staring at Klaus in shock. He quickly scrambled to his feet and prepared the ether again.

“Klaus, stop!” Gonzalez shouted, but Seraphiel was faster. She rushed at him, and suddenly he was back in the air. His back hit a wall hard, and an involuntary cry escaped him. Two massive pieces of metal stabbed into his coat, one beneath his arm and the other into his collar, close to his neck.

No, not just two pieces of metal, Klaus realized as his eye traced them back to their source. Two massive metal wings had unfurled from Seraphiel’s back, and the two razor sharp pieces of metal that pinned him to the wall made up the primary feathers. Seraphiel stood with her side facing Klaus, keeping an eye on him.

“No interruptions,” she spoke curtly, “I see that the AI have grown on you dearly, but you must understand. That is merely human instinct. I would ask that you take a step back and realize this. We don’t wish you any harm.”

Klaus grabbed one of the feathers, then quickly pulled his hand away, hissing at the blood welling up from the slice in his palm.

“Careful. They’re sharp.”

Klaus ignored her, “what do you even want them for? They’re useless without the Processor.”

“That’s what you think!” Gadriel said from where she stood with the others. Gonzalez was practically holding Markus and Alexandra back while Frederick squirmed in Gadriel’s grip.

“Well, for one thing, having those meddlesome AI out of our hair is an added bonus,” Seraphiel said, and then laughed, “what? Did you really think I was just going to monologue our way out of this? Can’t do that.”

Frederick cleared his throat, “Um, actually-” he suddenly cut off, Gadriel squeezed her arm around his neck, “careful there Azzy! What was that you were gonna say?”

Purple and green flared silently that Klaus recognized as a rare spurt of anger, and the lights circled the ground, flashing and blinking ominously. They didn’t speak a word. It was likely they were waiting for a proper opening, but with Seraphiel so close to Klaus, the chances were low that they would get in a hit without missing Klaus in the process.

“Ow!” Uriel shouted from where he had been messing with the panel that covered Pneuma and Logos’s cores. He shook his hand, “Gadriel,” he said, “you’ll have to take a look at this. Azrael got his little fingers into the code and scrambled it around.”

“Ooh! I get to play with Azzy’s code! Switch with me!” Gadriel didn’t waste a second and skipped away from Frederick, who promptly collapsed to the floor, catching his breath. Uriel stepped back and made his way over to the group, side-eyeing Klaus on the way, “watch yourself, Gadriel. Those cores can pack a mean spark that you’ll feel even through your metal plates. Make sure you’ve got your shields on,” he said.

Klaus sneered at him as he passed. They could get shocked to oblivion for all he cared. Hopefully those shields or whatever didn’t last very long.

“What do you guys want with the Conduit anyway?” Frederick spoke up, rubbing his throat, “that’s what you’re really after, isn’t it?”

Seraphiel sighed, “Uriel?”

Uriel nodded wordlessly and made his way over to Frederick, who scrambled backwards and into Gonzalez. Klaus inhaled sharply as Uriel’s left arm extended into a massive blade. He levelled it at the group who sat practically tangled together on the floor. They all flinched back as the sword was suddenly set alight. Flames licked the air and set their corner into an orange glow.

Klaus tried to struggle, but the metal had been punctured deep into the wall behind him, and a part of the blade nicked his neck. Seraphiel tilted her head in Frederick’s direction, “you don’t need to know, only that it would clearly be safer in our hands rather than yours.”

“So, it’s still all about power is it, Seraphiel?” Klaus laughed humorlessly, “the need to be at the top and in control? Take a look around, because all you’re doing is forcing unnecessary harm on everyone.”

Seraphiel turned to fully face him and Klaus winced as the feathers pressed closer to his skin, “So you would hand us over everything? I promise, it will make everything a lot easier for everyone if you do.”

Klaus glared, “nobody should be trusted with that kind of power.”

Seraphiel didn’t respond and simply eyed him up and down. Suddenly she stepped forward, and Klaus was hoisted higher into the air. The wings screeched against the metal as it forced him upwards. He could feel the sharp pieces of metal that the wings left behind in the wall scrape against his back. Against his better judgement, he grabbed the feather closest to him, wincing as it tore back into his palm. It stung, but all he really cared about at the moment was keeping the blades away from himself, and more importantly, his neck.

Seraphiel leaned towards him and Klaus flinched, squeezing his eye shut. He felt his side flare. When nothing happened, Klaus slowly pried his eye open, then lurched forward when he saw Galea’s card in the Saviorite Rebels hand.

She flipped it around in her palm, then held it in the air with her index and middle fingers. The light in the room glinted off of Galea’s face, and old blood stained the sides of the card.

“So it would seem,” Seraphiel said. Through the visor, her eyes flicked up to Klaus, who strained to reach her, “my deepest condolences, Professor Klaus.”

“Give her back, please,” Klaus found himself pleading, his voice breaking at the end. Seraphiel held the card just out of reach and he couldn’t lean any further without risking losing his own head. Still, he tried, and the Saviorite Rebel watched him passively, a hint of pity hidden behind her visor. He hated it.

“We all have regrets, and wish to turn back the clock,” She said finally, and pulled the card away from Klaus. He cried out as if she had stabbed him. She pocketed the card and pushed him back, “but I’m afraid that you must atone for what you have done, Professor Klaus. Even if it was not your intention.”

“Hey, give the man a break alright?” Gonzalez spoke up from where he sat, Uriel’s flaming sword still pointed at their heads, “he’s trying to rebuild this world, he knows what he’s done wrong.”  
Gonzalez’s frowned, and his voice lowered, “I can’t say the same for you, however. You guys have no right in deciding who gets to face the consequences of their actions, and how harsh their sentence is. You have no right to call yourselves judge, jury and executioners.”

Seraphiel didn’t face Gonzalez, and Klaus saw her eyes narrow, “rebuild this world? Tell me Professor, have you seen what lies below your tower? There is nothing but desolation and ruin beneath the clouds.”

“S-so what?” Alexandra piped up, and Klaus wished that they would _just stop talking_ , “he’s doing more good to his world than any of you.”

“And what makes you think he won’t turn on you? Do it all again?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Alexandra rolled her eyes, “why don’t you take another look at him and then get back to me on that question.”

Klaus had never once in his life heard Alexandra talk back to someone like that, it really was the end of days.

“Yes, I am aware of his… predicament. It is difficult not to notice,” Seraphiel said, and Klaus could almost feel the exasperation dripping from her tone.

“I will admit, the nature of his circumstance has me intrigued. Tell me, Professor, have you figured out how you’re still alive with only half a body?”

Klaus clamped his jaw shut, glaring at her in silence. He couldn’t help flinching when the other wing moved, the tips of the feathers prodding at the void. It flared in response, each brush from Seraphiel felt like someone was poking a numb part of his body with a pen. It didn’t hurt but it was uncomfortable, and Klaus squirmed, trying to get away.

_Leave me alone._

She retreated not too long after, the wing she was prodding with returning to rest at her side.

“Ow!” a yelp from Gadriel and a loud spark caught everyone’s attention. She waved a smoking hand in the air, then her visor rolled up, revealing her face. She sucked on the smoking finger; Klaus couldn’t fathom why, when it was made of metal.

“Stupid pieces of junk, quit attacking me!”

“Hey!” Markus shouted at her, “they’re _our_ pieces of junk!”

Gonzalez slapped him again.

Uriel gestured with his sword and they flinched back, Klaus flinched with them, “Azrael, go.”

Frederick held his head high, “no.”

Gadriel’s visor closed back over her face with a soft click, “Ugh, how deep did you shove yourself into this code, Azzy?” she said, then began toying with the screen again.

“You can’t get through either?” Uriel asked her.

“It’s not that,” there was a pause as Gadriel stilled her hands, and it took Klaus a second to realize she was _plugging_ _herself_ into the system. There was another spark, and a whisp of smoke flew off of Gadriel, who cried out again.

She shook her hand, “the stupid AI keeps attacking me through every firewall I take down. I can’t even sense them coming! They’re there one second and gone the next!”

Klaus grinned, then immediately wiped it off his face when Seraphiel turned to give him a stare. It didn’t stop the warm feeling from ballooning in his chest, however.

“If this keeps up, my shields will eventually wither away, and I won’t be able to defend myself.” Gadriel crossed her arms, “I’ll have to come up with something else.”

“Shields?” Klaus asked, but he was ignored.

“Uriel. Take Azrael to the Processor. We will get him to comply,” Seraphiel said.

Uriel didn’t waste a second, and he grabbed Frederick by the front of his shirt, dragging him to his feet. Gonzalez once again had to hold Markus and Alexandra back from lunging for him.

Frederick was taken to the front and the two Rebels stepped back, watching him warily.

It was barely perceptible, but Klaus could see his hand shake as he gently rested it at the top of the cover. Pneuma and Logos’s lights pulsed, yet no shock came. Frederick exhaled, shoulders slumping in relief.

“Any day now, Azrael,” Uriel said.

Frederick turned around to glare at the two Rebels that stood behind him, “I need a minute.”

Uriel shrugged, the flames danced off his blade and crackled against the air, “whatever, don’t take too long.”

Frederick’s eyes drifted over to Klaus, and for a moment they held each other’s stare. He strained against Seraphiel, trying in vain to escape and protect Logos and Pneuma. Frederick’s gaze dropped, and Klaus wanted to scream at him. He couldn’t do this; he couldn’t hurt them.

“Please don’t…” he pleaded, but Frederick turned back to the panel, his back tensed.

Frederick’s fingers flew across the computer screen. Klaus bucked and thrashed against Seraphiel, “Frederick, stop!” he cried. His fingers tingled with energy.

Alexandra and Markus joined the cacophony, Gonzalez still trying to hold them away from the dangerous people with weapons. The clicks from the keyboard stopped as Frederick’s hands stilled, everything fell silent, yet nothing happened. The cover remained on the cores. Pneuma and Logos’s light gathered behind the two Rebels, who were starting to shuffle impatiently.

Gadriel leaned forward on her toes, peering over Frederick’s shoulder, “Uh, don’t tell me you got mixed up in your own code?”

Frederick leaned back, looking to the ceiling, “No,” he said.

Uriel and Gadriel exchanged looks through each other’s masks. “Um,” Gadriel started, “then what’s the holdup?” She laughed suddenly, “Oh my god. I’m an idiot. I can’t believe you actually sided with them! You do realize what’s at stake here, right Azzy?”

“Yeah, I understand plenty,” Frederick caught Klaus’s eye and he smiled faintly, “you guys aren’t getting control over this station, not if I can help it.”

Seraphiel sighed and made a gesture with her hand. Uriel stepped up, his sword raised, “Sorry Azrael,” he said, “it’s nothing too personal.”

Frederick turned to face them fully, his expression set, “yeah. Same here.”

Gadriel screamed, “Uriel!”

The Rebel barely had any time to react before a green ball of energy rammed into his side, throwing him off balance and away from the processor. Klaus froze when he realized it wasn’t a ball at all, but the child-like holographic form that Pneuma rarely took around other people.

Pneuma flickered and vanished just as Gadriel charged, and she flew through empty air, “dammit!” she shouted, but before she could steady herself, Logos materialized, knocking her over to the ground. Frederick took the opportunity to run away to the others.

Seraphiel held out a hand, aiming it at Frederick and a beam fired out of her palm, striking the wall above him. He stumbled away from the fire and ducked over where Gonzalez and the others had found somewhat adequate shelter behind a half-destroyed table.

Seraphiel tsked and moved to aim again, and Klaus felt his position shift. He exhaled sharply and grabbed the nearest feather again, ignoring the sharp sting from the blade. Ether sparked at the edges of his fingers, and Seraphiel turned around just in time to get blasted back by the shockwave. Her wing was ripped out of the wall and Klaus fell to the ground.

Seraphiel quickly flipped onto her feet, her wings splayed and pointed. She lunged for Klaus, and he rolled out of the way just as a wing stabbed into the floor where he was a few seconds earlier. She ripped it out of the floor with a grunt, and Klaus scrambled back, trying to get his footing back.

His back hit the wall, and his heavy breathing stuttered. Seraphiel lunged, her wing aimed to pin him back against the wall, or worse.

“Father!”

Pneuma was suddenly there, and Seraphiel was shoved away from Klaus. She hit the wall instead, and Klaus clambered away frantically, rushing to Pneuma’s side, who quickly vanished.

“How long can you do that for?” he asked.

“Not long. Short bursts are the most we’re capable of at the moment. I have a feeling that they’ll figure out how to dodge us quickly, however.”

There was a shout, and Klaus spun around and saw Uriel and Gadriel charging Logos, who vanished in a burst of purple ether just in time for them to crash into each other. Logos’s snort of laughter was nearly contagious.

“…I may have an idea,” Pneuma said.

Klaus raised a brow at the empty space, “I sure hope it’s a good one.”

There was a low whir, and Klaus scrambled back as Seraphiel’s wings lit up in a blue aura. The sound rose in pitch as her wings flexed. With a single beat, she pushed herself away from the wall and into the air. She landed a short distance away, and Klaus could almost feel the scathing glare through her mask. The glow from her wings faded, and they splayed out once more. They were a lot bigger and intimidating when she flexed them. Klaus shuffled back from the shadow they casted over him.

Pneuma’s form appeared once more. Head tilted, Pneuma observed the fight Logos was putting up behind them. Klaus finally stood on shaky legs, watching Seraphiel nervously. He glanced between her and Pneuma, “Erm, Pneuma?”

“Got it,” Pneuma nodded.

“Got wha- what?!”

Pneuma’s form suddenly shifted before Klaus’s eyes. Instead of the child form that was normally taken on, Pneuma was now much taller, reaching just under Klaus’s own height.

“I do not have enough energy to extend for an accurate copy, but I suppose this will have to do.”

Pneuma’s hand flicked, and an exact replica of Uriel’s sword-arm replaced it, green fire and all.

“Logos! Follow my lead!”

Logos appeared next to Pneuma and oohed, “sweet, I like it!”

A cackle later, Logos had replicated Pneuma’s look and vanished. By the sudden exclamations coming from behind, Klaus doubted Uriel nor Gadriel expected it. Not that he blamed them, he was still trying to wrap his head around it, even as Pneuma engaged Seraphiel.

Pneuma vanished and reappeared in front of the Saviorite Rebel leader and brought down the sword-arm. Green fire replicated by the ether whooshed and roared with every swipe. Seraphiel was no slouch however, and easily kept up with Pneuma’s offense, blocking every swipe and slash with her metal arms. The arm that Klaus had shot sparked, but it looked like she had managed to restore its functionality.

She brought her wings together to form a shield just as Pneuma delivered a heavy blow meant to knock her over, and the sword rebounded off the metal surface. Pneuma stumbled and vanished just as Seraphiel swung her wings outward. The feathers sliced the empty air where Pneuma had been standing not long ago.

Someone grabbed Klaus by the back of his coat, and he startled. Ether shimmered and pulsed around his arm. He swung blindly over his shoulder.

Gonzalez ducked underneath Klaus’s poorly aimed swipe, “Hey! Chill Prof, it’s me.”

Klaus felt like he had run a marathon. It was difficult to collect enough air to form a proper response and his body shook from adrenaline. He settled for giving Gonzalez a questioning glance. The other professor gestured to where Frederick, Alexandra, and Markus were waiting, but an explosion drew their attention to Seraphiel and Pneuma, who were still exchanging blows. Seraphiel had her palms aimed at Pneuma, firing beams whenever Pneuma materialized around her.

Gonzalez tugged on his coat, ducking low, “We need to go, Klaus.”

“I-”

“Klaus, we can’t stay here. _You_ can’t stay here. Look man, I may be smart but you’re on a whole ’nother level. The world needs you.”

Klaus stared at him, his breaths still heavy and shaky.

Gonzalez shook his arm, “you can’t die here.”

Klaus sucked in one more breath, finally regaining control, “the world needs them too, Gonzalez.”

A pained shout from Logos had Klaus spinning towards the other end of the room, his body felt frozen.

Logos was still managing to hold off the two Rebels, but Klaus noticed that the gap between appearing and vanishing was getting significantly longer as time passed. Uriel swiped his sword through Logos just as the purple form appeared and Logos screamed in agony and vanished into the air, though it seemed with great difficulty.

“Klaus, don’t-”

He shoved Gonzalez away from him and sprinted for Logos, his arm outstretched. Uriel saw his advance and held his sword in front of him defensively. A condensed ball of golden ether shot out of Klaus’s palm and knocked Uriel off balance. The sword vanished as Uriel was forced to catch himself on the ground.

A shout from Gonzalez and a whir was the only warning Klaus had and he ducked. Seraphiel’s wings clipped at the air where his head was a moment earlier. Klaus grabbed her with his golden strands of light before she could land and threw her against the wall, the bang from the impact startling everyone in the room.

He squeezed his hand, and the ether complied. Metal groaned and squeaked as Klaus tried to crush Seraphiel’s armour.

“No!”

Gadriel was suddenly rushing at Klaus, and before he knew it, she was directly in front of him. Her hand moulded into a dagger-like appendage. He threw himself to the side just as she swung. The dagger cut through the void and triggered a burning sensation to spread across his missing side. Klaus gasped in pain and stumbled, catching himself on the floor.

_I thought. I told you. To stop!_

Klaus’s head pulsed. He fell to his knees, hand gripping his temple and the inside of his eyelid flashed gold. He opened his eye just in time to see Gadriel fly into the wall at the other end of the room. She groaned and lifted herself out of the bits and pieces of metal strewn around that end of the room. His headache began to fade, and Klaus was left feeling jittery.

“What the hell,” Gonzalez’s jaw hung open as he stared at Klaus. He looked where Gonzalez had been staring but he saw nothing. Only the ends of the void, and pieces of golden ether that had already begun to disintegrate into the air.

“Hah!” Seraphiel strode back over to Klaus. He was shocked to see her armour looked as if it hardly had a dent in it, “looks like I’m not the only one who’s fond of complex designs. I didn’t know you were into that type of style, Professor Klaus, let alone that you had the ability to summon something such as that in the first place.”

Klaus forced himself to his feet, stepping back from her. If he could avoid it, he would rather not be trapped against the wall again. She continued walking forward anyway. Klaus tried reaching for the ether again, but his head pulsed, and the power slipped from his grasp.

“What sort of secrets have you been hiding from us?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Ouch,” Gadriel complained, picking bits of metal and dust off her suit, “don’t act like you didn’t just summon a giant wing to bat me across the room. Rude, by the way.”

“I didn’t- you were trying to kill me!”

She scoffed as she made her way back over to them, studying her nails, “details.”

“Gadriel, as much as I appreciate the sentiment, we are trying to keep him alive, at least for now,” Seraphiel said, looking down at the smaller Rebel.

Gadriel stopped as she reached her leaders side and sighed, “fine,” she said, dragging out the word, “but you can’t get mad when I get to say, ‘told you so’ when he tries to kill us later.”

“Hopefully, it won’t have to come to that.”

“Klaus!” Alexandra shouted.

His legs were suddenly swept from underneath him, and Klaus toppled easily. Uriel picked him up by the scruff of his neck and tossed him towards Seraphiel, who caught him. He suddenly and painfully found himself pinned back against a wall. Klaus noted that the arm Seraphiel was using to hold him wasn’t the same as last time. She had switched arms. Perhaps the other one wasn’t holding together as well as he previously thought. She subtly inched away from his left, eying it with apprehension.

Her eyes flicked back to his face and she pressed an arm against his neck, “Let’s try this again, shall we Professor?” she tightened her hold and Klaus choked, “unlock the Trinity Processor,” Seraphiel demanded.

He shook his head to the best of his ability, Seraphiel’s eyes narrowed, “I am running low on patience, Professor Klaus.”

“Release him!”

Purple and green launched themselves at Seraphiel, but much to Klaus’s horror, Uriel intercepted, swinging his blade down on Pneuma, who couldn’t manage to escape in time. Logos disappeared and the purple lights in the room flashed violently in alarm.

“Pneuma!” Logos screamed.

Pneuma’s form fell and Klaus’s non-existent heart leapt into his throat. Uriel raised his fiery sword above Pneuma, who hadn’t yet dissipated. The holographic yet very real form flickered and tried to pull away from the sword in time.

Pneuma reached out a desperate hand to him, “father!” it- Pneuma- she screamed as the sword plunged towards her.

Before Klaus realized what he was doing, his own hand was outstretched, channeling every ounce of ether he had left in him and directing it towards Pneuma. A golden beam of light struck her body, and the power from the connection blew Uriel off his feet, and he stumbled away.

Pneuma’s form absorbed the extra ether and took the opportunity to vanish in a show of green and golden sparks. Klaus slumped forward, the relief that Pneuma got out unharmed was nearly soul crushing. That however changed quickly when he was roughly shoved back up against the wall.

“Enough tricks!” Seraphiel barked, and her fingers elongated into sharp, needle-like appendages. She held up the hand and aimed it at Klaus. He couldn’t move, his body felt like it had been filled with lead.

“I had hoped that we could let you go, Klaus. But it is clear to me now that you are too much of a threat to us, and our operation. I am sorry, may the heavens forgive you your transgressions.”

There was shouting and screaming. Klaus thought he heard Pneuma and Logos, and he closed his eye, not wanting to see anyone’s expressions. but then something shoved him aside, and he fell sprawling onto the floor.

When he felt nothing piercing his body, he threw himself around, just in time to watch Gonzalez plunge a long, sharp piece of shrapnel into Seraphiel’s side, who howled in pain.

“Sera!” Uriel and Gadriel called. But their words were meaningless to Klaus, washing over him completely as he stared at Seraphiel’s arm, buried in Gonzalez’s chest. He turned to Klaus, a pained smile on his face, then Seraphiel ripped her talons free in a shower of blood.

There was more screaming as Seraphiel stumbled away, her wings automatically folding into her back, and was dragged off by Uriel and Gadriel, who quickly began retreating. Frederick, Alexandra, and Markus all stumbled to their feet and rushed by them, falling to the ground in front of Gonzalez.

Frederick’s hands were stained red, Alexandra and Markus were sobbing and shouting, Gonzalez wasn’t breathing. The world stopped, the room was shaded in purple and green, but it was dim, and weak. He reached for his pocket, but it was empty. Klaus’s vision pulsed red.

“Shit, Gadriel!”

“On it!”

Klaus set his sights on the Saviorite Rebels, who were now making a break for the exit, Gadriel’s hand touched a panel near the doors, and the lights above them flickered and shattered, leaving them only lit by Pneuma and Logos’s weak light.

But it was only for a moment, because the room was relit in a brilliant, angry, golden light that was as hot and bright as the sun itself. A wave of pure ether chased the Rebels out of the room, shorting out and melting anything that was left in its path.

Eventually, the golden glow began to fade, Klaus’s vision with it. The room went dark, and slowly, Pneuma and Logos brightened themselves to make up for the lack of lights. Klaus’s hand shook, and he pressed it against his head, sucking in fast and heavy breaths.

Nobody spoke, and Frederick removed his hands from Gonzalez’s unmoving form slowly, shaking his head. Alexandra had been holding Gonzalez’s hand, and she pressed it tightly against her lips before setting it down across his chest.

Markus shouted wordlessly, and his fist collided with the wall. Pneuma and Logos didn’t dare speak a word. The Rebel’s footsteps faded away and they were left in silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for character death
> 
> Thanks for reading! :^)


	11. Silence/Siren

Professor Felicity had once meant the world to Klaus. She could command an entire room with a single glance and instill great fear unto those who spoke against her. Her eyes were sharp and her tongue more so. Her students knew to behave when they heard the sound of her heels clicking down the hall brusquely, her no nonsense attitude enough to stop whatever clamouring they were making in the early morning hours. She was well known and esteemed even among the more distinguished professors and scientists of the Rhadamanthus.

However, she had also been kind, patient, and understanding with Klaus when he was a child. He took to her side like a duckling to their mother during his early days at the Beanstalk and even up to his late teenage years.

Professor Felicity was a scientist through and through. When Klaus was small, he thought she held the answers to everything. He could ask her anything, and she’d respond with prompt enthusiasm and with nothing but the truth. She practically raised Klaus, though whenever she had been called out, she’d quickly shoot it down, giving off some excuse that she never wanted kids or that the idea of motherhood was never really her thing.

Klaus always snickered to himself whenever she ruffled his hair or gave him a splitting smile when he learned something new. He had to agree with her, though. She had been far better at being a big sister rather than a motherly figure.

Of course, Klaus had to get his knack for studying and researching until he dropped from somewhere; and here, Professor Felicity was the culprit. She never stopped for anything, and she never took no for an answer. And unfortunately, she had been obsessed with answers. When the cores first appeared from the Conduit, Felicity had dedicated every waking moment of her life to studying them, foregoing even some of her duties with Klaus when he was still too young to fend for himself.

Her patience waned, and her temper skyrocketed. The slightest setback would set her off on anyone unfortunate enough to have been within her proximity at the time.

Of course, there was a breakthrough. She discovered the cores could be communicated with, and through them, the Conduit. However, the cores were stubborn to say the least, and refused to communicate with any of the head scientists or professors. The Beanstalk’s data would get corrupted and the cores would begin messing with as many functions they could weasel themselves into. A small war waged between the cores and the teams on board.   
Looking back now, Klaus thought that perhaps it had been because they hadn’t liked the tight, dark spaces that they were contained in, and poked at with giant needles and stickers connected to machines to read their data.

It had been after a rough day of work that Felicity came back to her apartment in Elysium late at night, waking Klaus up from his light sleep with the slam of the front door. He wasn’t sure what she saw in him that night, shuffling up to her in his pyjamas that were one size too big, asking if she was okay. She looked down at him from where she had sprawled across the couch, her glasses tossed carelessly onto the coffee table and her hair messy and untamed.

He remembered he saw her eyes light up like they usually did whenever she solved a particularly stressing problem that haunted the front of her mind, and the grin she gave him was the widest he had ever seen.

The next day, he had met Ontos, Logos, and Pneuma.

Days that then turned into weeks, then weeks into years. The cores hadn’t trusted him at first, keeping their distance yet watching curiously and not without a level of uncertainty. They eventually grew on each other and before he knew it, Klaus had found himself a new strange group of friends that weren’t quite human, but not entirely machine either. At least that was what he believed. Felicity on the other hand had never formed that level of attachment, and Klaus knew she never planned to. That had often landed themselves into…situations.

“You what?!”

Klaus waved both his hands in front of him placatingly, already sweating from the verbal beating he knew was coming his way, “it’s okay! I can have it fixed in no time! Promise.”

Felicity had thrown her hands into the air, her face already drawn into a scowl Klaus was all too familiar with, “you can’t keep doing this, Klaus. You cannot rely on those machines for everything!”

He had felt his temper spike in response to her own, but he knew from experience it was best for himself and the rest of the vicinity to try and keep a handle on his own emotions to avoid another fight. His brow twitched as he kept his fake smile plastered on his face. He knew that she could see right through him, but it was worth an effort at least, “they’re not just machines, Professor. I know they can be so much more than that,” he said.

Apparently, that had not been the right thing to say, because she stepped closer to him, her face nearly pressing against his own. Her eyes glared daggers through his head, “you let them into our weapons and defense systems!” she practically screamed.

Klaus jerked his head back defensively, “Professor, you can trust them. Besides I know that they can handle themselves just fine.”

“But I don’t trust them, Klaus. You shouldn’t either, they are machines from an entirely different plane of existence! I expected you to know better.”

Klaus huffed, “you don’t know them like I do, Professor. You won’t even give them a chance!”

He knew they were getting looks from bystanders, most of which were smart enough to either silently leave or keep walking by. Others who were less experienced around Professor Felicity and Klaus’s fits of temper watched from the sidelines with wide eyes.

“One chance is all they need to royally screw us over, Klaus. I refuse to give them that. Have you already forgotten your training?”

Klaus’s nose flared, he exhaled sharply, “of course not. I’m not an idiot.”

Felicity shoved a finger into his face, “then act like it. Withdraw the AI from our systems and wipe them clean. Take this as a lesson. I’m leaving.”

Klaus gawked, “Felicity-”

But she was already walking away, her heels clicked against the tiles forcefully, “no buts, Klaus. I’m done talking to you.”

She left the room, her coat swishing in the air as she turned sharply for the exit. Klaus stared after her in shock. His jaw tensed as he gnashed his teeth, then he was storming after her, leaving the awkward silence and the other scientists behind.

The normally busy hallways parted for Klaus and he paid them no mind, his eyes focused on Felicity’s retreating coat. A familiar hand grabbed his wrist and he roughly pulled himself free, not bothering to slow his pace.

“Klaus, wait-”

He ignored her and continued his march towards the elevators and took the ride to the first floor. He finally caught up with Felicity just as she was exiting the beanstalk. It was mid afternoon by then, the sun catching Klaus directly in the eyes and throwing him off guard for a moment.

He spotted Felicity and made a beeline for her, ignoring the pedestrians and the usual chaos caused by afternoon traffic outside of the Beanstalk.

“Felicity!” he called out, but she kept walking. She didn’t stop until he jogged around her and stood in her way.

“Felicity I can’t do that.”

She glared at him, “Klaus. I specifically do not remember giving you permission to leave the labs. Go home.”

He crossed his arms, “no.”

She roller her eyes, “oh for- would you quit this whiny teenage bullshit already? Go back up, I’m not telling you again.”

“I’m not wiping their memories!”

Felicity grabbed him by the front of his shirt, and pulled him down so they were face-to-face, “you will for everyone’s best interests and safety. We shouldn’t even be discussing this out here,” she hissed, “do you even understand how close this is to flying completely off the handle?! I will have to get the Director involved if you don’t get your butt upstairs and do what I told you. You’re lucky you’re not losing your job.”

She shoved him away and Klaus stumbled, nearly knocking into another pedestrian. He growled, stalking towards her already turning back, “Professor Felicity I refuse to-”

She whirled back around, jabbing a finger into his chest, “-Klaus, either you go back home and rethink what you want to do with your life, or you do as I say,” softer, she then spoke, “you cannot move forward unless you learn how to let things go.”

Klaus’s face burned and he had to restrain himself from swatting her hand away. Felicity spun around once again and left Klaus alone on the busy sidewalk, her hands shoved into her coat pockets. He watched her go, rooted to the spot.

An explosion suddenly knocked him off his feet and he stumbled into a wall of a nearby building. People were already screaming and running away from the sound, alarms sounded, and the nearby drones programmed to patrol the area activated their weapons, scanning the area for any threats. Someone grabbed his arm and dragged him into a nearby alleyway, the crowds of people stampeding right by them.

“I can’t believe they still let those things loose with lethal weapons,” Felicity whispered behind him. Klaus had to do a double take over his shoulder to tell that it was actually her.

“They also have non-lethal weapons,” Klaus tried to reason, and she raised her brow at him.

“They’re still weapons, Klaus.”

He groaned, “don’t start turning this into a lecture too.”

“Well clearly I haven’t given you enough, with all the mind-numbing stunts you’ve been pulling.”

“Yeah, well who raised me?”

She smacked him over the back of his head, “shut up. Do you want to start drawing attention?”

“You started it!”

She slapped him again.

Rubbing the back of his now stinging head, Klaus peered out of the alley, the hovering drones, better known as Sentinels, still scanned the area. The streets were mostly cleared out by now, only a few people remained, standing in the centre of the town square they were in. Vehicles had been abandoned in the rush and sat in the middle of the roads, some still with their engines running.

It looked like it was another terrorist threat, and Klaus inched back into the alleyway. Felicity pushed herself ahead of him and he nearly fell back. he glared at her while she scanned ahead. She suddenly jerked back, turning to Klaus with wide eyes.

“It’s the Rebels, they’re here.”

Klaus felt like his throat had immediately closed up. So, it really was more than just a threat then. He watched the people milling about outside of the alley. They seemed awfully nonchalant for all the alarms blaring about. Klaus sucked in a sharp breath. They weren’t just pedestrians then.

“The Sentinels,” Klaus hissed, “why aren’t they attacking?”

“They’re hackers, dumbass. Now stand back before they notice you.”

Klaus glowered at her but complied, sneaking further back into the shadowed alley with Felicity. She snapped her fingers at him, and Klaus tilted his head, trying to convey his confusion. She just rolled her eyes and flicked him on the forehead, to which he winced and tried to flick her back. Before he could, however, she had reached over and grabbed his nametag. She practically tore it off his coat, much to his indignance, and shoved it into his inside pocket. His professor then held a finger to her lips and glared.

The distinct sound of a nearby Sentinel made Klaus tense up, and he held his breath as the sound got closer. He could feel his professor do the same. It was silent then, as the drone hovered just out of their sight outside their hiding place.

It whirled around the corner and Klaus winced as the bright, blue-tinted spotlight was pointed directly at him. He was frozen in place, unable to move or do anything other than stare at the drone that clicked and whirred softly as it analyzed him and Felicity. Felicity brought her hands into the air and nudged Klaus, who quickly followed her suit.

A compartment on the side of the robot flicked open, and a small, needle sized barrel was pointed directly at them. Klaus jumped back, but Felicity grabbed his arm tightly. She nodded at the robot, “We’ll follow.”

The drone clicked a few more times, then it suddenly zipped above them, spinning into the air before landing directly behind them. It pressed itself hard against Klaus’s back. He staggered forward as Felicity dragged him out of the alley and towards the masked group in the middle of the square, who had watched the whole interaction from a distance.

They stopped in the middle of the square, and one of the masked Rebels made his way towards them, an automated voice crackled through the mask on his face, “greetings, hostages!” he spoke cheerfully, waving a hand at them as he approached, “how lucky we are to have not one, but _two_ scientists from aboard the Rhadamanthus!” he laughed, the voice sounded odd when it went through the sound mixer, “and we didn’t even need to try that hard.”

Klaus pointedly ignored Felicity’s glare.

“Oh please, don’t all start speaking at once,” the Saviorite Rebel drawled, and Klaus could practically see his eyes rolling behind the mask, “how about we do a little ice breaker? My name is Baraqiel. And yours?”

“So, you were granted a name?” Felicity said, and Baraqiel’s head perked up, “I know it’s not your real one.”

Baraqiel laughed, “someone’s been doing her research! Though, I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information with you sweetheart. You know,” he gestured to both of them, “government officials and all.”

Felicity sighed, Klaus recognised it as one of her ‘I’m-this-close-to-kicking-your-ass’ sighs, and he almost took a step back.

“Then we won’t be disclosing any either. Good day.”

“Aw, now that’s not how you should be treating strangers you know,” Baraqiel waved a hand, and one of the nearby Rebels raised a weapon in their direction. Klaus tensed as the barrel was levelled at him, “who taught you your manners?” Baraqiel snickered.

“You think this is some sort of game?” Felicity asked, a fire in her voice that honestly scared Klaus a little more than the gun that was pointed at them.

“Oh, not at all! I take these things very seriously you know. So!” Baraqiel clapped his hands together, “which one of you is more important?”

Felicity subtly stepped in front of Klaus, holding him back from the Saviorite Rebel, “like I said. I’m not disclosing a word. We signed a contract when we joined our teams and I refuse to break our code now.”

Baraqiel slumped, “you’re no fun. My poor feelings,” he clutched at his heart dramatically, then quickly straightened, like he was a puppet whose strings had been pulled, “but you do know what would make me feel better? I’d love to know both of your pretty little names.”

Felicity barked out a laugh, “fat chance, asshole. I've already told you we’re not giving you shit.”

Baraqiel seemed to freeze, and Klaus got the horrible feeling of chills crawling up his spine that he knew was making his hairs stand on end.

“A name is all I need, sweetheart, then I can let you all go free,” he said. He still hadn’t moved from his frozen position.

Felicity eyed the gun pointed at them. She looked at Klaus, her expression set in a grim line. She faced Baraqiel and raised her head, “you won’t get what you want, Rebel.”

Klaus started, “Professor-”

“-Okay, fine.” All pretense and flare had vanished from Baraqiel’s voice, leaving it barren and cold even as it was modified, “have it your way.” He nodded at a nearby Rebel, “kill the boy.”

“What?!” Klaus yelped as the Rebel cocked the weapon, “there’s got to be another way, why do you have to resort to killing me?!”

“Baraqiel I must ask that you rethink your decision,” Felicity’s voice remained calm, “he’s still a child.”

Baraqiel paused, “Look, it’s nothing against ya, kiddo. We just need her alive for some answers and you might just get in the way.”

“Then just take me hostage! You don’t have to kill me!” Klaus said.

Baraqiel winced, “yeah, I may be a killer but even I’m not willing to put a kid like you through the wringer. Think of this as an act of mercy.”

“Wait!” Klaus turned to Felicity, who was pointedly looking away, “Professor!”

Baraqiel sighed, “it was nice knowing ya, blondie.”

Felicity squeezed her eyes shut, a tear slipping down her cheek, “I’m so sorry,” she whispered.

Klaus felt as if he had been struck, “professor?” he asked, his voice broken and small. The sound of a weapon powering on made his heartrate pick up, but he couldn’t look away from Felicity. Someone stepped closer to him and he scanned the area frantically. There was nobody else around. The streets were empty, the now rare blue sky was void of any birdsong, sirens sounded from blocks away, not close enough.

Another sound however, caught Klaus’s ear, a low whistle coming from high above him and beyond the sky. He met the Rebel’s eye just as the trigger was pulled and Klaus flinched back, flinging his arms in front of him defensively.

Two things happened then at the same time; the earth shattered around him in a fierce explosion of dirt and grass that toppled him to the ground, and there was a loud bang as the bullet meant for Klaus’s head connected against something impenetrable and definitely metal.

Klaus gasped when he opened his eyes to see a giant, white and gold metal arm curling protectively around him. Soft, familiar emerald lights danced along the lines of its body.

“Pneuma?” his voice shook, and the mechanical beast responded with a trill, cocking a human-like head down at him.

Another earth-shattering impact shook the ground with a boom, and over Pneuma’s arm he could spot another one of the mechanical titans. This one was coloured black and gold and was decorated with a lighter, but familiar, purple light.

“What the hell…” Klaus whispered.

“What the hell?!” One of the Rebels screamed, but their voice was gone in an instant, a dark purple beam shooting out of the black machine and practically evaporating them on the spot.

Baraqiel leaped back from another shot from Logos, just barely avoiding a similar fate like the first Rebel, “shit, I knew it was too easy. Where did they even get those things?!”

The remaining Rebels let loose a barrage of firepower, pelleting Logos’s black armour with bullets and sparks. Logos crossed his arms to protect the giant purple core that sat in the middle of the mechanical being’s chest.

Klaus startled when the giant white arm suddenly vanished and then Pneuma joined the fray, firing golden beams of energy at the Rebels, slowly picking them off. He wasn’t in the open for much longer, however. Before he could move, a large silver and gold arm replaced Pneuma’s. He snapped his head up and stared at familiar red and orange eyes.

“Ontos?” Klaus asked shakily, and the titan nodded. He had hardly even noticed Ontos’s presence, there was hardly a disturbance in the earth or the air from his entrance. The only thing that gave Ontos away was the soft humming Klaus could barely hear over the yelling and fighting across from them.

Klaus jumped as someone grabbed his arm, tight enough to cut off circulation. Felicity’s face was turned into a scowl.

“Tell them to call it off. Send the cores back up,” she said tightly.

“What?!” Klaus shouted, “They saved us, Professor! And what the hell was that back there? Do you want us to die?” his voice cracked at the end, but he refused to acknowledge it, even as Felicity winced.

“I don’t want you to die,” she said, her voice softer than Klaus had ever heard it, “far from it. But you have to know,” her grip loosened slightly, “we don’t fully understand the Saviorite Rebels full capabilities. For all we know if they have our names, we’d be better off dead. They’re exceptional hackers. Who knows how badly they could screw up our lives with just our names alone?”

“Still,” Klaus fought the burn in his eyes, “still you could’ve-”

“I was a coward, I’m sorry,” she whispered.

A loud explosion caught their attention, and a nearby building suddenly collapsed, sending smoke and debris into the air. Ontos’s arm tightened around Klaus, humming and beeping filled the space between them.

“Call the Sirens off,” Felicity said, her voice hard and stern once more.

Klaus went to retort, but Felicity held up a hand, “they saved us, yes. But at what cost? They’ll destroy everything.”

“You shouldn’t be talking about costs right now,” Klaus spat at her, but she didn’t react, merely looking up into Ontos’s eyes.

“How they got a hold of our model plans are beyond me,” she said, “Sirens weren’t meant to be mass constructed until a few years from now. But it seems that _someone_ ,” she glared at Klaus, but it didn’t hold its normal hostility, “gave them access to it. We don’t know what sort of power they hold now.”

Klaus sighed and tapped Ontos’s arm, “fine. Ontos, take Logos and Pneuma back up. We’ll be right behind you.”

Ontos didn’t move, and Klaus frowned, twisting to look into the giant metal face, “hey, did you hear me?”

“My apologies, father. That is not in your best interests.” Ontos said.

Klaus sputtered, “my best _interests_? Ontos I’m telling you I want you and the others to leave. We’ll meet you at the top.”

Another explosion nearly sent Ontos toppling, and fear gripped Klaus as he watched another building collapse as Pneuma backpedaled into one from the onslaught of bullets and firepower.

“Ontos this is an order.” Klaus demanded but the machine remained still, the protective barrier Ontos’s arms made was beginning to feel stifling.

Klaus gave up on Ontos and focused on Logos and Pneuma, “Logos! Pneuma! Fall back, that is an order!” he shouted, but either they didn’t hear him, or he was ignored. Logos took to the skies with fuchsia wings and peppered the ground with his own retaliation of bullets.

“I told you,” Felicity muttered bitterly, “they’re just following their programming. Like I said, they’re machines.”

Klaus whirled on her, “It’s not too late,” he said desperately, his words falling over each other, “this can be fixed, they just have to listen to me- Ontos!”

Felicity grabbed him and spun him around from where he started shouting at Ontos’s impassive face, and she slapped him, “this can’t be fixed. If they will not listen to you, then there is no point. Their one and only protocol is to protect and defend. That is what they will follow until the end. You should have known this; it is what the Conduit created them for, after all,” she said, her voice cold.

“It’s run or die, Klaus,” she whispered, Klaus could barely hear her over the chaos, “what are you going to do?”

“I-”

“-shit, look out!”

Klaus spun around and Felicities shout, but he was still knocked to the ground by something heavy. His head pounded and he groaned. Baraqiel was stalking towards them, only a few feet away from Klaus. The drone that Klaus reckoned must have been the cause of his new smarting headache buzzed around him, its weapons drawn and aimed at him.

He thought he heard Felicity yelling at him to move, but he found that he couldn’t, and he stared down the tiny barrel attached to the drone. Felicity screamed and charged at Baraqiel, who easily grabbed her and tossed her to the side.

A massive silver arm suddenly swat the drone out of the air. It spun wildly in the air and hit a building in an explosion of metal and fire.

Ontos looked down at Klaus. Red lights flashed up and down the metal body’s surface. The Siren looked to the approaching Saviorite Rebel and then back to Klaus. Ontos’s head tilted as if it were trying to solve a complex problem.

“Stop, please.” Klaus pleaded.

Suddenly Pnuma’s Siren was in front of them, golden lightning charged in between the palms of her hands.

Ontos lurched forward, “Pneuma, wait…!”

The lightning shot forward and struck Baraqiel, throwing him back several feet. The blowback was enough to slam Klaus back into Ontos and he collapsed. He could hear the sound of glass shattering a hundred times over as the shockwave spread throughout the city, buildings rumbled and the earth quaked. Ontos’s shadow loomed over him protectively, and the world went dark.

Klaus had awoken in the hospital later that day, his side bandaged and stitched, and a long IV dripping fluids and drugs into his body. He recalled having no visitors that day, but the next a kindly old man he recognized as another employee at the Rhadamanthus had stopped by and broke the news of Felicity’s death. He remembered the man had said she had been crushed by a nearby building that would have killed Klaus as well, if the silver Siren had not been shielding him. It was not her cause of death, however, for her skin had been charred from head to foot.

He remembered Galea had picked him up afterwards, but they exchanged no words as she drove him back to the Beanstalk and escorted him home. She had placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, her mouth open and likely ready to give her condolences, but instead she snapped her mouth shut, gave his shoulder a squeeze, and left him alone in his dark, empty apartment.

Red, purple and green had hovered outside his bedroom in Elysium, but for a long time, he didn’t let them in.

* * *

The silence was deafening. Alexandra had shrugged off her coat and gently placed it over the top half of Gonazlez’s body, covering his open, yet unseeing eyes. Markus had left them at one point, and none of them acknowledged the sounds of retching they could hear from the other room. Frederick hadn’t moved an inch from Gonzalez, his bloody hands sat on his lap from where he knelt, his head bowed low.

Klaus couldn’t find it in himself to move either. He couldn’t tear his eye away from Gonzalez’s prone form. Blood spilt from his wound and onto the ground, pooling at Frederick and Alexandra’s knees.

Markus stumbled back into the room and collapsed against the doorframe that was practically melted beyond recognition. He took in a few deep breaths before resting a hand against the frame. He withdrew it almost immediately with a hiss.

He noticed the others were looking at him and he straightened himself, “uh, it’s still hot.”

He crossed his arms and avoided their gazes. He shuffled over to a less melted portion of the wall and leaned against it, shaking.

Frederick raised his head, “I think we need to… find a proper place. For him.”

Alexandra sniffed and nodded, she remained where she sat, however.

“Is everyone else okay? Injury wise?” Frederick asked.

“Um,” Alexandra rubbed the end of her sleeve against her eye, “Professor? You were knocked around there pretty bad.”

Klaus flexed his hand, the cut on his palm had since crusted over, but the movement caused fresh blood to break free. He winced and removed what remained of his tie, shuddering as the fabric passed over the void. He slowly set to wrapping it around his hand with his mouth.

He spat out the shoddy wrapping job and let his hand fall limply to his side. The pool of blood had stopped growing around Gonzalez, just out of his range.

Alexandra looked as if she made to move towards him, but the action was quickly aborted, “Professor?” she asked softly.

Klaus stared at Gonzalez, “Why me?”

“Why?” Klaus suddenly pounded the ground with a fist. Pain jolted up his arm, but he didn’t care, “why?! Why me? Why sacrifice himself for me?!”

Frederick hunched into himself and shut his eyes. Alexandra forced herself to look away, but she didn’t leave Gonzalez’s side. Markus offered no words, likely still processing what had happened. Pneuma and Logos drifted closer to Klaus, but they offered no words either, merely staying vigil at his side.

Klaus lowered his head. It was hard to breathe again, his breaths coming in and out too fast for him to catch. His vision blurred and doubled, then he blinked, and it cleared as a tear slipped down his face and onto the ground. The ground where…

Klaus blinked again at Pneuma, whose soft green light circled around his hand that rested against the cold metal floor. Weak, yet gentle strings of light caressed his bandaged hand; battered, bruised, blood-stained, and practically torn to shreds, but whole. He remembered, then, that night after he’d woken up from restoring power to the Beanstalk. He froze and shook his head vehemently.

Had Gonzalez really been willing to put so much stock in the single man he hated the most? Give his life for the man that had destroyed the universe just because he saw hope?

“You all put too much faith in me,” Klaus whispered darkly.

His nails dug into the fabric of his makeshift bandage, he could feel himself shaking, but he ignored it. he gave Gonzalez’s body one last look, then he forced himself to stand. Frederick scrambled to his feet after him, and Markus’s head lifted at the commotion.

“W-what are you doing? Professor?”

Klaus walked towards the door, fist clenched, “Take care of him. There’s a large freezer down the hall. It should work for now.”

Klaus’s eye met with Markus, and his former student gave him a subtle nod. Markus exhaled and strode over to the others, hesitating as he reached Gonzalez. He turned to Klaus, “hey. We’ll be right behind you.”

Klaus nodded in acknowledgement and made for the exit. Frederick glanced between the two of them like it were a tennis match.

“Wait, Klaus! Where are you going?”

He ground his teeth, sucking a breath, “I have some vermin that need exterminating from the Beanstalk.”

“Professor Klaus,” Alexandra sounded taken aback, “you can’t. We could barely hold our own back there!”

Frederick jogged ahead of him and blocked the exit, staring down at Klaus, “I’m sorry, Klaus. I know you’re angry, I’m angry, too. But right now, I think we all just need a minute to calm ourselves down and…” His eyes trailed behind Klaus, “…and grieve.”

Golden tendrils of light picked Frederick off the ground, and he yelped. Gently, Klaus set him down off to the side and continued towards the door.

“You can’t stop me, Frederick. This needs to be done and it needs to be done now.”

“Klaus-”

“-I’m with the Professor,” Markus interrupted, his voice was low and rough, “for once. Who knows what they’re up to this minute. For all we know we could be waiting out our deaths.”

Klaus gave Markus a nod, then turned to Alexandra and Frederick, who still held looks of uncertainty, “it’s up to you,” he said. “But I’m not letting them go without a fight. Not after what they’ve done.”

He didn’t wait for their responses and left the room, leaving the silence behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back to Part 1 of 2, The Sequel: Electric Boogaloo. I have to stop doing this. Felicity didn’t even exist in my mind until literally the last chapter. How the heck did she hijack almost 80% of chapter 11??? I mean,, I guess it’s in character????? I had this planned to end on chapter 18, not chapter 19.
> 
> Oh yeah, update on how long the fic is! Finally got that figured out lol, now I just need to write ‘em. Hard to believe I thought this was only gonna be 5 chapters long max not too long ago. So... unless the splitting chapter incident ends up becoming a trilogy then it looks like 19 is gonna be the end of the road.
> 
> I spent way too long looking at colour schemes for the Sirens, I need help.  
> Thanks for reading! :D


	12. Justice/Trust

Klaus stalked the empty halls of the Rhadamanthus, intent on following the trail of blood the Saviorite Rebels, or more accurately, Seraphiel, had left behind. The small pools of blood stained the silver floors and looked nearly black in the dark lighting. The further Klaus followed, the less puddles of blood appeared on the ground until eventually they stopped, and Klaus faltered in his march.

There were two possible routes they could have taken. Either they headed towards the bunker and storage section of the labs or… Klaus’s eyes trailed up the escalators, or they fell back, and headed for the exit through Elysium.

“Father!”

Klaus glanced behind him and saw Logos and Pneuma race down the hall towards him. He eyed the brightness of the lights on the walls. It would seem that they had managed to regain some strength after the fight. Good, they would need it.

His eye landed on purple, “Logos, tell me the Saviorite Rebel’s location.”

Logos faltered, “I, um-”

“-Father are you sure this is wise?” Pneuma interrupted Logos, “you’re injured, and not in the right frame of mind…”

Klaus whirled on them, “would everyone quit saying that already?! I know full well what I’m doing!”

Pneuma shrunk back, and Klaus’s attention darted back to Logos, “give me the location, now.”

“Please father, just rest first. We can deal with them after everyone has recovered,” Logos said, his voice lower and more soothing than Klaus had ever heard before.

“I will rest,” Klaus emphasised each word slowly and clearly, “when the threat is out of this tower. Do you understand me?”

Logos and Pneuma were silent.

“I will not have another death on my hands,” Klaus said.

“…yes father,” Pneuma and Logos said in unison, and Klaus nodded.

“Good. Now, I asked for a location.”

Logos answered, “they have just reached the mid level of the Beanstalk. It would seem they wish to head for the 7th Perimeter Skyport.”

Klaus felt his jaw drop, “all the way down there? How did they get there so fast?”

Logos and Pneuma flashed in the equivalence of a shrug. Logos made an ‘I don’t know’ sound that Klaus didn’t know he could make.

“Their bodies are not entirely human,” Pneuma said, “it is not a far stretch to assume that they simply had the energy to run.”

Klaus shoved his hand into his coat pocket. The small pocket felt impossibly deep and vast in its emptiness, and his breath hitched. He shook it off and asked, “do you know what exactly they plan on doing down there?”

“No,” Pneuma said. “They have cut off anything that our transmitters can pick up. We can only sense their general location.”

Klaus closed his eye. The Perimeter Skyport. Where was that again? It was far, further than Klaus could walk and perhaps that was what the Saviorite Rebels had intended, to put as much space between themselves and Klaus as possible to regroup. But… that didn’t make any sense. Why go so far?

He remembered there was a Skywalk that would take him directly outside to the port, but that was far from his current location as well. If Logos and Pneuma said they were heading for the port, then they couldn’t be far from the Skywalk. It was likely they were closer than he thought.

The Megrez gateway, just outside from where he and… Where he had captured the monster. It wasn’t impossible to believe they were there.

“Can you two scan the Megrez gateway? Are they there?” Klaus asked.

Pneuma sighed as Logos wordlessly got to it, “father, that is quite the distance. I’m not sure if you should-”

“-they’re not there,” Logos said. “I did catch a weak signal near Alioth, the floor beneath it. It is very likely that that’s their current location.”

Klaus frowned, “they sure are moving fast. But why down? If they wanted to put distance from us, they could have stopped after Elysium.”

What was so important that they needed to move down? Everything they wanted was right here, next to Elysium. So why go through all that effort just to run? What was so important down there?

The answer hit Klaus like a sucker punch to the gut.

“We need to move, _now_.”

If Pneuma and Logos had a physical form, Klaus was sure they’d be exchanging looks. But he didn’t spare them a second glance as he started for the escalators.

“Father?” Pneuma asked.

“Tell the others they need to meet me below,” Klaus took a deep breath, “the… Gonzalez will have to wait.”

He paused at the base of the escalator, “activate all of your defense systems. Aim to kill,” He gripped the railing, “they’re headed for the data processing room.”

Logos and Pneuma understood immediately and both colours disappeared in an instant. Klaus started the hike up the escalators, hardly stopping for a breath.

If they got their hands in the data processing room, it wouldn’t take long before they had access to more than just their cameras and transmitters. If they were skilled enough, and Klaus didn’t doubt they were, they would know everything there was to know about the Rhadamanthus. They would know the exact location of the Conduit, if they didn’t already, and they’d have every piece of information on every weapon they had locked away in the Beanstalk. Including the Artifices.

Including Aion.

And after than it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out how to take control. Klaus shuddered at the thought of another world-ending catastrophe.

With renewed determination, he forced himself to climb.

* * *

Klaus was exhausted by the time he reached the first town in Elysium. He collapsed with an ache in his legs and a throb from where his shoulder hit the side of a building when he went down. He sat on the ground and gasped in as much air his lungs could take. It took a minute of heavy breathing and sitting for the spots to stop dancing in his vision, and another much longer minute for the ache in his legs to fade into a dull throb.

The only small blessing now was that the temperature in Elysium was much more bearable this time around. He wasn’t shivering or sniffling from the cold, and a light artificial breeze swept through the warm air, cooling the sweat that had built up on his skin.

He thumped his head against the building with a groan. At this rate there would be no way he could catch up to the Rebels in time.

The sun was setting outside the great dome, painting the sky above in various shades of blue, purple, and orange. His hand grasped at the cool dirt beneath him and took another deep breath, taking a selfish moment to collect himself. He couldn’t waste any more time, not when everyone’s lives were at stake.

Klaus forced himself to stand, and he continued walking. Not for the first time, he wished he had thought ahead and brought himself a bottle for water.

“Father?” Logos’s voice pulled him from his thoughts.

“Have you contacted the others?” Klaus asked.

“I have, they’re on their way now.”

“Good. And Pneuma?”

“I am here as well,” Pneuma said. “the Saviorite Rebels have not yet come into contact with our defensive measures. Everything is online and ready.”

Klaus nodded, “be on your guard.”

His foot caught against something hard and he stumbled. He stopped himself before he could fall and groaned in frustration. He wasn’t going to make it in time, not at this pace. The edges of his fingers tingled with ether energy. He stopped walking and examined his hand.

“Er, maybe you should get some rest, father,” Logos said, breaking the silence. “Let our defense systems take care of it for now when they get there.”

“The Conduit’s been leaking…” Klaus muttered aloud.

“Yeah, okay it’s bedtime. There’s a bedroom in the building on your right. You should regain some strength while you’re here,” Logos said. “…and maybe some of your sanity,” he added as an afterthought.

Pneuma ignored her sibling, “what do you mean by ‘leaking’, father?”

“I’m getting stronger,” Klaus said, “when I shouldn’t be.”

“What do you mean?” Pneuma asked softly.

“Pneuma,” Klaus paused, still examining his hand. The blood on the tie had long since crusted and dried, “how much ether is in the air now?”

Pneuma paused and Klaus lowered his hand in the silence. He let the electric sensation on his fingers run up his hand and his arm. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was more ether than ever now. But… Klaus thought maybe he had some sort of connection to the Conduit, and that would certainly explain his new abilities, but how?

Pneuma returned, “ether has been exponentially increasing within the Beanstalk by approximately point five percent every two minutes. The rooms containing the Conduit and anything within a fifteen-mile radius has currently at least a fifty-fifty ratio of ether-infused oxygen. And it will continue to grow.”

Klaus hesitated, “what happens when all oxygen is replaced with ether-infused molecules?”

“Nothing,” Pneuma stated. “there have been no adverse affects for humans when exposed to high quantities of ether. At least, not to humans who are… already ill-exposed.”

Right. The Nanotechnology.

“What about the rest of the Beanstalk? Is there enough ether in the lower levels?”

“I do not follow. Enough for what?”

Klaus closed his eye and focused on the electric sensation on his arm and spread it over his whole body. He felt as if his entire being was vibrating, not all unlike that one time Galea had spiked his coffee.

He forced the memory aside and focused on the feeling of ether building around him, encompassing his body like a cocoon. It wasn’t hard for Klaus to picture the entrance to the lower section of the tower within his mind, he knew the Rhadamanthus like the back of his hand. He focused.

“…enough for a simple matter of displacement,” he said.

Pneuma was first to catch on.

“Father wait I don’t know if you-”

Pneuma’s voice cut out as a strong feeling of vertigo overtook Klaus. It felt as though the ground had opened beneath him, yet he could feel his feet pressing against the solid ground. The image of the main floor of Alioth remained clear in his mind as if he were seeing it through a window. Despite himself, he took a step forward, and he almost stumbled to the ground. He caught himself before he could fall and straightened.

“What the hell?!”

Gadriel’s voice rung in Klaus’s ear and his eye snapped open. He stood in front of the Saviorite Rebels, all three stock still in what he assumed was shock at seeing him appear out of nowhere. They were just about to exit the main entrance to Alioth.

Klaus didn’t bother giving them a chance to recover and he launched a ball of ether in their direction. It was smaller and less powerful than he had wanted it to be, but despite the low levels of ether in the area, it was enough to force them to scatter into different directions. The golden ether melted into the floor where it struck, metal bubbling and hissing.

“How did he get down here so quickly?” Gadriel shouted over Klaus’s barrage of ether bullets.

“I don’t know, you were the one looking over there!” Uriel shouted back.

“He literally appeared out of thin air! How am I supposed to explain that?!”

Seraphiel’s wings snapped open, “everyone, focus!”

The other Rebels immediately stopped their in-fighting and focused back on Klaus, who still wasn’t finished. With a roar, he grabbed the nearest Saviorite with the ether, who happened to be Uriel, and slammed him into a wall. Ether sparked up his suit and he grunted, trying to curl into himself.

Gadriel was charging for Klaus again, her hands already transformed into sharp daggers. Instead of evading, Klaus removed Uriel from the wall and slammed him into her, sending both their bodies sprawling into the Skywalk ahead of them.

Seraphiel leaped for Klaus, her wings catching her in the air and boosting her at breakneck speed towards him. Klaus ducked just in time, her sharp talon-like fingers cutting through empty air. Klaus blasted her back with a shockwave. Seraphiel caught herself just before she hit the ground, her wings righting her wild spinning so she landed on her feet.

“How did you find us,” Seraphiel demanded.

Klaus shrugged nonchalantly, trying to hide the simmering rage that lie behind his blank expression.

“You’re not too hard to track,” he said, then launched another ether attack.

She sidestepped the ball of ether, “how did you get here?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

Klaus grunted as he ducked a blast from Seraphiel’s bullets. She fired again just as Klaus righted himself and he thrusted out his arm in a blind panic. He could feel the ether around him harden and solidify as if in slow-motion, and he stared as the ether formed a hexagonal patterned shield, covering his body in a half-dome. It took the brunt of the impact from Seraphiel’s bullet, then shattered on the second blast, sending Klaus sprawling to the floor.

“Professor,” Seraphiel crooned, “I’m honoured, such power is nothing I’ve ever witnessed before. Tell me, where do you draw your power from?”

Gadriel giggled, sidling up to her leader, “I reckon he’s more of a magician than a scientist with all those tricks he’s been pulling!”

Klaus crawled to his feet, watching the Saviorites gather before him warily. Seraphiel tiled her head, as if she were calculating something from beneath her mask. She held out an arm, stopping Uriel in his warpath towards Klaus.

“Professor Klaus, is your circumstance a factor of the incident, or a side effect from channeling the Conduit’s power?”

Klaus frowned, gulping in deep breaths of air in an attempt to revitalize himself so he could prepare another attack.

“Tell me first,” Klaus straightened, the tingling returning to his fingertips as he grasped for his power, “what do you want with the Conduit? With the Trinity?”

The Saviorite Rebels remained where they were; Seraphiel slowly lowered her arm and Uriel remained in place, though the flames on his sword licked the air menacingly.

“…and in exchange, you’ll tell us what we want?” Seraphiel asked.

Gadriel looked between the two, wringing her now normal hands together. She seemed unsure of the direction of the conversation.

“Sera, maybe we shouldn’t…” Gadriel cut herself off as Seraphiel raised her hand in a swift motion. Gadriel immediately straightened and set her eyes back on Klaus, any indication of her previous nervousness wiped from her posture.

Klaus took a cautious step forward. Uriel and Gadriel immediately stiffened, but they remained vigilant at their leaders’ side, whose posture was lax and watching him curiously.

“I take it you were headed for the data processing room,” Klaus ventured, “what information were you looking for?”

Uriel and Gadriel exchanged glances, but Seraphiel’s attention remained on him. Klaus was too far away to discern any sort of expression through her visor.

“Tell me about the Artifice,” Seraphiel said, and the other Rebels recoiled.

“Seraphiel, is this wise?” Uriel hissed under his breath, just loud enough that Klaus caught it.

Klaus wasn’t surprised, though it was the wording that caught his attention, “ _the_ Artifice?” he asked. “You’ll have to be more specific.”

Another step forward. The Rebels didn’t react this time, too focused on their leader.

“Project Prometheus. Tell me about it,” Seraphiel said.

Despite their obvious distaste Uriel and Gadriel both turned to Klaus, clearly wanting to know as well. Klaus smirked to himself, Frederick was right.

On the outside, he made a show of fumbling with his words in mock suprise, “Project Prometheus? What- what good would it bring you to know about it?”

“Well, I first wanted to confirm that it was real, so thank you for answering my question.”

Klaus scowled.

“My second question…” Seraphiel tapped her chin with one sharp finger, “I wish to know it’s location. Don’t worry, Professor, if you do hand over the information freely, I’ll be sure that your life, and the remaining ones onboard are spared in our… restoration.”

Oh, spared like Gonzalez was? Klaus felt himself stiffen, and he had to bite his cheek to stop himself from spouting anything that would get him killed.

“But,” Klaus stepped forward again, careful and measured, “you promised an exchange, did you not? Now tell me what you want with Prometheus.”

“We don’t have to promise you anything,” Uriel said, but Seraphiel silenced him with a wave of her hand.

“We shall uphold our end of the bargain. The Saviorite Rebels are nothing if not integrous and Professor Klaus, despite being a lot of things, is a respectable man.”

Gadriel crossed her arms, “well you don’t need to advocate for him.”

Klaus ignored the backhanded complement and smiled sweetly, a nauseous feeling poisoning his gut as he made the friendly gesture towards them. From the disgusted “ugh” he heard from Gadriel he knew his feelings were reciprocated. Good.

“Thank you, Seraphiel,” it was all Klaus could do to not spit out her name in detestation, “now, if you’d enlighten me…?”

Seraphiel crossed her arms, head lowered in thought. A moment passed, and her head snapped back up sharply; Klaus nearly stumbled back in suprise. He took a small step forward instead.

“Very well. You of all people deserve to know,” she stepped forward herself, holding her hand out to the side theatrically. “This world needs rebuilding. Now more than ever; you of all people understand that, at the very least.”

Klaus eyed her hand skeptically but nodded along anyway.

“The Conduit, under your direction, took everything away from us. But, under the right influence, it can bring it back as well,” her arm was brought to her chest. “I know that this Prometheus Artifice as you call it-”

\- Well, it was called Aion, but he wasn’t about to correct the likes of them anytime soon.

“-contains a great amount of power. But it needs the cores in order to fully activate its powers, does it not? With Prometheus, we will create a dawn of a new world… _our_ new world. Nothing will stand in the way of salvation. Humankind can still be saved. We have been granted a second chance from on high.”

Klaus blinked. They weren’t serious, were they? Klaus wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t. Oh God he couldn’t laugh at them. Were they idiots?

“Let me get this straight…” Klaus rubbed his mouth in an attempt to rein in the hysterical laughter bubbling in his chest, “you want to recreate the explosion that destroyed the universe,” he paused, trying to collect himself. “Just because you think there’s a chance it’ll bring everyone back to life.”

“The Conduit is divine. It should not have been controlled by corrupted individuals such as yourself.”

Klaus wanted to bash his skull into the metal floor. She sounded just like he did. They were idiots.

“First of all,” he said once any trace of laughter that could’ve shown itself died away. He held up a finger, “another explosion would kill the last of us. There’s no coming back from that,” He held up a second finger, “second, it’s impossible to control A-Prometheus now.”

Klaus let his hand fall, his head following soon after, “there is no way for it to be restored to its full power. Even if there was a chance to bring life back to this planet, it’s gone now. Prometheus cannot and should never be used. The Conduit cannot be controlled.”

He glared up through the bangs that had fallen over his eyes, the Rebels watched him, alert and listening.

“You will stand down, Seraphiel. I will not allow you near Prometheus.”

“Wait.”

Klaus waited.

“Your power, it is connected to the Conduit?”

Klaus tilted his head in a show of thinking. He shrugged, tossing his hand up carelessly, “probably.”

Golden light sparked at the edges of his fingers, and he thrust his arm forward, “not that it matters if you know.”

The Rebels hardly had time to scatter before another wave of ether came crashing in their direction, scalding everything in its path. Klaus snarled as Uriel charged him, flaming sword at the ready. He focused the energy around him to condense into a shield once again and the blow was deflected. This time, the ether shield remained stable.

Uriel fell back, and Klaus hardly had a moment to recover before Gadriel was on him, swiping and hacking at his shield. Bits of ether shattered off the shell as Klaus’s concentration waned, and pressure began building against his skull.

Klaus spotted Uriel moving into his blind spot, and he spun, trying to keep him within sight. Vertigo overtook Klaus and as he stumbled, the golden shield shattered.

“Gotcha!” Gadriel crowed and her dagger-morphed hand descended on Klaus before he could react.

“Gadriel! Shield!” Seraphiel screeched from wherever she had been observing the fight, and the panic in her voice was enough to startle both Klaus and Gadriel, who’s arm halted mid-stab.

From this close, Klaus could see Gadriel’s armour shimmer, and she quickly brought her arms together. Just as she crossed her arms over her face, a bolt of green and purple lightning shot overhead and stuck her middle, sending her across the room and crashing into the Skywalk.

Pneuma’s hologram flickered to life, and she charged Uriel, who raised his sword to block her strike just in time. A flash of purple caught Klaus’s attention, and he watched Logos form a cage around the downed Gadriel, trapping her in place.

“The others are coming, hang in there father!” Logos called over and grunted as Gadriel huddled into herself in the centre of the cage, trying to avoid the electric bars closing in on her.

“Enough!”

Seraphiel was hovering near the ceiling, her wings coated in blue light. She clapped her hands together forcefully, and the power went out, Pneuma and Logos included. Her wings remained the only source of light in the room.

“Twenty-five seconds!” She called out. Uriel and Gadriel staggered to their feet.

Klaus forced himself to stand as well, though it was unsteady. He snapped at Seraphiel, “you did _not_ just EMP my AI.”

He fired a ball of ether at her, the room temporarily lighting up in a golden glow. The blue light vanished just before the ether struck her, and Klaus blinked in the sudden darkness when his attack struck nothing.  
Something solid suddenly pummeled into his chest, and the wind was knocked out of him. His back hit the ground, and above him, blue wings flared to life. From up close, Klaus could see each individual feather vibrating intensely. Seraphiel gripped his shirt, twisting it in her hand.

“My last question,” Seraphiel ground out as Klaus struggled in her grip. “Where is the third core?”

Klaus could taste a faint metallic tang at the back of his throat. His breath shuddered. He sneered up at her.

“Go to hell,” he said.

She slammed his head against the floor, and Klaus saw stars.

“I won’t ask you again!”

Klaus laughed bitterly. It came out sounding forced and rough, “it’s gone, Seraphiel. You cannot control Prometheus. Your arrogance will be the undoing of the last of us, just as it was before.”

The lights flickered back on, and Seraphiel leaned back, “very well. Uriel, Gadriel, subdue the cores when they return.”

“What? no!”

Klaus cried out and Seraphiel pulled him off the ground. A single beat of her wings brought them both into the air, and before Klaus knew it, they were speeding for the exit. Klaus squeezed his eye shut as they headed for the doors, gripping Seraphiel’s arm for his life.

There was a bang, and then the roar of the wind was in his ears, whipping his hair in his face. His eyes opened involuntarily as they stopped with a sudden jolt, and he couldn’t supress a wordless shout at seeing nothing but clouds and the distant earth beneath him.

“You claim our arrogance was what destroyed the world?” Seraphiel said over the whir of her mechanical wings and the billowing wind around them.

Klaus gripped her arm, his fingers slipping over the cool, sleek metal. His body dangled in the air, desperately trying to find some sort of purchase. She jerked him out further and Klaus cried out involuntarily, but the sound was taken by the wind. He desperately tried not to look down again.

“Take a look for yourself, Professor! See what your hubris has cost humanity, hypocrite!”

Klaus looked down despite his own internal screaming that told him it was a bad idea and felt himself blanch at the ground level. He could hardly see anything from how far up they were, dark clouds obscured most of his vision. He could just barely make out the entrance to the beanstalk at the ground level. Fallen buildings and rubble blocked most of the way in. Distantly, he thought he heard the cries of hundreds of the mutated creatures below him. Metal glinted from below, and Klaus squinted, trying to make it out.

Seraphiel shook him and his hand slipped. With a cry, Klaus tried to grab back on, but his hand kept slipping off the smooth metal. She held him by only the front of his shirt, and he thought he could see her smirk through the tinted glass of her visor.

“You say you plan on rebuilding, Professor? But what’s an architect to do with nothing but rubble!”

The metallic glean caught his eye again and he looked back down, ignoring the dizzying flopping in his stomach whenever he did. What was that?

“You had your chance, Professor Klaus. Now let myself and my children finish what you started.”

Far below, through the thick clouds, distant green specks dotted the metallic surface, and it began moving. Realization struck Klaus and he laughed.

“Oh, so you find it funny?” Seraphiel said, “I suppose the destruction of humanity would only be hilarious to one such as you. A pity that your brilliant mind became one so corrupted.”

Klaus wiped a tear from his eye, “no, no not that,” another hysterical laugh broke him, and he suddenly couldn’t catch his breath.

Seraphiel narrowed her eyes through the visor, “what?”

Klaus grabbed her arm again, but this time he held on. He felt himself grin wildly, the adrenaline rushing through his very bones and shaking him to his core, “my kids just kicked your kids’ ass.”

She frowned, then looked to where Klaus had been and he could just barely see her expression morph from one of confusion to disbelief, “what?!”

Ophion’s roar was the most beautiful sound Klaus had ever heard in his life. Quickly, he pressed his hand against Serphiel’s chest, cherishing her look of utter shock.

“Goodbye.”

With that, Klaus expelled as much energy he could muster through him and out of his palm, shoving Seraphiel away. She was gone in a blast, the shock temporarily knocking out her wings as she rapidly plummeted away from Klaus, who quickly fell into a similar situation.

It didn’t take long for Seraphiel to reactivate her wings, and she caught herself mid-fall. Klaus quickly plummeted past her. The wind deafened any sort of shout she may have made. The rush and howl of the cold air bit into his skin and his hair whipped about uncontrollably. It stole his breath away and stung his eye.

Twisting his body, he tried to aim himself for Ophion, begging that Pneuma knew just how stupid he was to try and pull this sort of escape. It felt as if every internal organ he had left in him was suddenly trying to leap out of his throat as he began picking up speed.

Ophion roared and he caught a glimpse of the purple mechanical snake rise into the air to catch him. Suddenly, a blast from behind Klaus hit Ophion and it cried out; Seraphiel zipped around Klaus and began engaging it, the small blasts she fired out of her palms were strong enough to even knock a colossal being like Ophion around.

“No!” he screamed.

Klaus tried to attack Seraphiel himself, but she was too fast for him to get a clear shot of her. He continued falling, the rooftops of skyscrapers now rising past him as the ground rushed up to meet him. He squeezed his eye shut, his body tensing for impact. Distantly, a whistle sounded in the air above him.

He hit something hard and metallic chest-first, and it nearly knocked the air out of him, his neck ached from the sudden whiplash. He cracked open his eye and seeing that the ground was only a few feet away from him, he nearly screamed. Something squeezed around his chest, and he looked down, only now noticing that he was hovering above the ground and no longer falling. A giant black and gold hand held him gently, and Klaus twisted up to look into the face of a Siren.

Logos’s voice came through a speaker, “That was quite the trust fall there, father. Good thing this Siren model is my lucky one.”

Klaus wheezed, gripping Logos’s Siren for dear life, “lucky?!”

“Well, you’re not a smear on the ground right now, are you?”

Klaus grumbled, managing to wrap his arm around one of the Siren’s digits. Logos’s fuchsia-red lights blinked down at him, and he tilted his massive head, somehow managing to look concerned, “I didn’t hurt you too bad, did I father?”

Klaus waved him off quickly, not wanting to take his arm away from the Siren for very long, “no. You’re fine, Logos. Take me back up.”

Logos nodded, “very well.” The Siren’s wings opened with a flourish, and with a rumble they took off into the sky.

Klaus tapped Logos’s finger, “You and Pneuma need to retreat. They know how to take down Sirens,” he said over the rush of the wind.

Logos laughed, “yeah. But she’s gotta catch us first. Besides, last I checked, Seraphiel is the only one suited for flight. She’s outnumbered.”

The world spun as Logos suddenly pivoted, his cannon aimed at the fight between Ophion and Seraphiel. A purple beam of light shot forward and nearly struck Seraphiel, who dove just in time to avoid the blast.

An energy bullet was sent back at Logos in retaliation, but he easily deflected it with a shield of solid ether.

Seraphiel was already flying for them by the time Logos’s shield dissolved. The blue glow from her wings left trails of light behind her in the darkening sky. Before Klaus could shout at Logos to _move_ , a white and gold patterned Siren descended onto Seraphiel, cutting off her path and swatting her towards the earth.

“Pneuma!” Klaus shouted.

The white and gold Siren was unresponsive, hovering silently in place.

Seraphiel righted herself and shot back up towards Pneuma’s Siren, who still hadn’t moved. Klaus saw the Rebel’s head tilt as something caught her attention and she swerved wildly, just in time to avoid a massive beam of light, one that was far larger than what Logos had fired earlier.

Ophion weaved through the buildings and skyscrapers below, continuing to fire the giant blasts at Seraphiel if she got too close. The unlucky buildings that got in the way crumbled to the ground in an earth-quaking roar; loud enough that Klaus could feel it in his chest.

“Pneuma’s got her hands full right now, let’s leave her to it!” Logos said.

“What are you talking about, you can’t leave her!” Klaus shouted at Logos, even as he was swiftly escorted away from the battle below and back towards the Beanstalk. “There’s no way she can pilot both Ophion and her Sirens at the same time.”

“Not with that attitude she can’t. Besides, there’s a few others that may need your assistance right about now.”

Logos deposited Klaus onto the dock, and Klaus stumbled on the hard ground. He shivered in relief at finally being back on something solid. The fight raged on behind Logos; Siren and Ophion both taking turns at taking shots at Seraphiel, who narrowly avoided the attacks.

“The others are there, go help them. We’ll keep Seraphiel occupied for you.”

Klaus lunged forward, “Logos, wait!”

But the black Siren was already taking off towards the fight, blasters already firing at Seraphiel. The sound of metal clanging against metal caught Klaus’s attention and he lurched towards the Skywalk, where Uriel and Gadriel were engaging Frederick.  
He was barely holding his own with a metal pole, blocking and dodging attacks from both Rebels as Alexandra and Markus stood nearby, looking lost and panicked. Klaus could see Frederick was tiring, and it was made clear that he wouldn’t be able to hold his own for much longer as he took a slash from Gadriel in the arm.

Klaus seethed, and conjured the ether around him once more, the golden light forming a whip-like shape and wrapping itself around Uriel’s leg. Klaus swept his arm downwards and the Rebel followed not soon after, crashing onto the floor.

The metallic tang that sat at the back of his throat was back, and Klaus recognized a timer when he felt one. His arm shook but he forced the ether to remain steady. Gadriel lost concentration with her fight against Frederick, and he took the opportunity to whack the back of her head with the pole. The pole bent from the force against her helmet and she stumbled to her knees.

Klaus dragged Uriel towards him, the ether winding up his body like a snake and trapping his arms to his sides. He struggled violently but Klaus refused to let go.

When he was close enough, Klaus leaned forward until he could see his breath against the Rebel’s visor.

“Get out of my tower,” he hissed.

Before Uriel could say anything, or break free, Klaus brought his arm up and swung it towards the exit, the lasso of light flinging Uriel out of the Skywalk and off the edge of the Beanstalk. He heard him scream as he plummeted towards the clouds.

“Uriel!” Gadriel screamed, but she was soon caught in a similar situation, the golden ether snagging her torso and tossing her outside without a second of hesitation.

Her distant scream followed Uriel’s, and Klaus shook in the now increasingly loud silence. Something touched his arm and he snapped back, only now noticing that Alexandra had run over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulder in an awkward but tight hug.

A loud explosion shook the station, and Klaus would have stumbled to the ground if it hadn’t been for Alexandra. Markus and Frederick, who had run over with Alexandra, staggered into the sides of the Skywalk, trying to catch themselves from falling over.

“What the hell was that?!” Frederick shouted when the noise died down.

“Pneuma,” Klaus breathed, and then he was slipping out of Alexandra’s grip and running for the port.

The sky was clear of Sirens and Rebels. Klaus twisted every which way to try and catch a glimpse of Pneuma or Logos, or at least a sign that they were okay. Even the sounds of Ophion’s flight boosters were absent, and Klaus shook in the silence of the wind.

He heard Frederick shout for him, “Klaus! Over here!”

Turning to where Frederick was pointing, the relief crashed through him like a tidal wave at seeing Logos’s Siren soar towards them. Klaus ran over to the best of his ability to meet him but froze when he noticed something was off. It didn’t take too long to realize why, because as they drew closer, he saw that Logos was carrying Pneuma’s Siren.

The black Siren landed on the dock in a heap, and Klaus snapped out of his daze, running over to them. His run, which quickly devolved into a stagger as he hit the ground in front of the downed Siren.

“So…” Logos said finally when the others caught up, “good news and bad news.”

Klaus placed a hand over a cracked piece of armour on Pneuma’s Siren, the central core still flickered which was a good sign, it could still be repaired.

“Bad news is this Siren is pretty much toast. Unless you can find the time and the resources to fix it, it won’t be flying or fighting anytime soon.”

Logos held up a giant golden finger, waving it in the air to catch their attention.

“But! The good news is we won’t have to worry about the Rebels anytime soon. Pneuma is currently chasing them away with Ophion and a small army of Colossus’. The Rhadamanthus is safe for the time being.”

Klaus let his hand fall from Pneuma’s Siren, “how many Sirens are left?” he asked.

Logos paused, “just the two.”

Klaus sighed and turned to Frederick, who seemed to read his mind.

“Logos take her down to the repair station. I’ll see what I can do,” Frederick said.

Klaus nodded, and with that acknowledgement, Logos powered up his Siren and leaped off the port, Pneuma’s limp Siren clutched in his hands. Logos zipped along the side of the port, and then vanished below, the sound of the Siren’s engine fading away as it descended.

“Klaus.”

He turned at Markus’s voice. The other man stood further back; his arms crossed over his chest in an attempt to ward off the cold wind. He nodded his head towards the open doors behind them.

“We should go.”

With the help of Frederick and Alexandra, Klaus staggered to his feet, and together they walked inside. Klaus turned as the doors closed behind them, taking one last look at the dark, cloudy skies. He pushed back the feeling of wrongness that crept up his spine and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. They had a long way back up, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Achievement unlocked: Skip It
> 
> And finally, we have part 2 of 2 for this arc, featuring the author, who finally decided that looking at the world tree’s map might be a good idea.  
> Thanks for reading! <3


	13. Broken/Creator

Much to Klaus’s relief, Pneuma returned as they inched their way up the Beanstalk, her green glow lighting the way and bringing a sense of comfort to the dark halls. They decided it would be best to take a break at the Low Orbit Station, seeing as everyone was exhausted from the day’s events, and- according to Pneuma- it was nearly midnight.

Klaus lay on his side and watched the stars outside the protective glass. They weren’t particular about where they decided to crash for the rest of the night, and most of them ended up sleeping on the floor, including Klaus. Frederick had ended up falling asleep in an uncomfortable looking chair. Infrequent snores broke the silence here and there from the others.

Occasionally, Logos would zip through the stars, piloting the black Siren. He would wave to Klaus when he saw he was still awake, and Klaus would give his fingers a small wag back before the Siren would disappear again, continuing its rounds around the Beanstalk.

He didn’t know when he fell asleep, but the next thing he knew he was being shaken awake by Frederick as the sun was just beginning to peak over the earth’s horizon.

His whole body ached, which wasn’t a surprise, given how much he had pushed it the other day. He ended up leaning most of his weight against Frederick as they made their way out of the station and into Elysium, Pneuma guiding the way wordlessly.  
The majority of the walk back was silent, only permeated by the occasional query for water or if anyone needed a break.

The walk was slow, and the sun was just nearing mid-day when they finally stepped into the church. Klaus was immensely grateful that the others decided to take a break, and he was sat on a bench. Frederick handed him a bottle of water, to which he accepted with an appreciative nod.

It wasn’t long before Klaus was forced back onto his feet and they entered the laboratories. The purple and green lights that welcomed them below was more than a comforting sight to see.

Alexandra and Frederick had tried to convince Klaus that he should eat something, but he dismissed them, saying that he’d much rather a rest and a bath. He could tell from the looks they gave him that they knew he desperately needed more than just a quick shower, and they let him go, going their separate ways.

Klaus watched them leave in the direction of the cafeteria. His peripheral lit up green.

“The medical room is nearby, if you wish to sleep first,” Pneuma said.

“Thank you. I’ll do that.”

The green light dimmed, but it didn’t leave him, instead it followed his faltering steps towards the med room, only just lighting the path ahead before every step he took.

The closet was dark when he opened the door, but Pneuma rushed ahead and the room lit up a soft green. The pillow that he had tossed the night before still lay on the floor. He didn’t bother to pick it up and instead headed right for the cot.

When he finally sat down, it felt like a small bit of weight had rolled off his back. His eye caught a flash of paper that fluttered on the ground from the AC. The weight was back again, and he flopped onto the cot and rolled on his side, ignoring his research notes that remained untouched since his last visit, laying scattered across the ground.

It was a long time before he fell asleep. He awoke some odd hours later, drenched in sweat. He couldn’t remember what he had been dreaming about exactly, but the sweat that coated his body felt sticky and thicker than he knew it really was. The injury on his hand itched, and he hadn’t realized he had scratched at it until the tie around his hand left new stains on the blanket.

He forced himself out of bed and dragged himself towards the showers, trying to wipe the blood off his body.

Klaus tightened the knot around his shoulder again, careful not to rip the fabric with his teeth. A full day of sleeping along with a hot shower really did do miracles, but what it could not do, was help him figure out how to put his clothes back on. Eventually, Klaus had given up and resorted to tying his coat into a sort of sash around his body. It was good enough and long enough, so he didn’t complain.

He didn’t bother shaving the light stubble that he hadn’t noticed before or bother to cut his hair that was now beginning to fall into his eyes. Instead, he fished around for a spare hair tie in one of the abandoned offices and left it at that.

After he finished fixing himself, he begrudgingly caved under Pneuma’s insistence that he eat something and headed for the cafeteria. He was relieved to see that it was empty, and slowly walked over to the menu’s that flashed on the screens.

His finger hovered over the screen, indecisive; his body felt like it had frozen in time. He shook himself and swiped down the menu and settled for a plain hamburger and left it at that.

The ticking from the clock across the room filled the silence as the machine started up with a whir, booting up the program that would create his food.

Klaus sat at the nearest bench, not really looking at anything in particular. The white wall ahead of him offered nothing to distract him from his thoughts.

Klaus chuckled quietly, “so, of all times and places, now is when you decide to haunt me?”

Silence answered him, and the clock kept ticking.

Klaus flexed his hand, the new bandages he had wrapped it in tightening against his palm. His head lowered as he whispered, trying not to draw Pneuma or Logos’s attention.

“What do you want from me, Gonzalez? Why did you save me?”

The computer next to him whirred, and he watched the machine build his burger listlessly. He wasn’t sure if he would even be able to eat the whole thing.

Rebuilding. It always came back to rebuilding. First it was Pneuma, and then Gonzalez, who believed in him so much that he’d die for him. Was anyone else willing to sacrifice themselves on this tower just because there was a chance that Klaus could figure out how to save them all?

He scoffed, if he were one of them, he sure wouldn’t put so much faith in the man that had killed them all in the first place.

Klaus rubbed his head tiredly, had Gonzalez really died for nothing? But… what was there to do?

The timer dinged and Klaus sighed wearily as he stood, lifting the glass so he could slide out the tray that held his burger. He tossed it lightly onto the table as he sat back down. He leaned into his palm as he watched the steam rise off his food, waiting for it to cool down.

How many more deaths would it take before they realized there was nothing he could do?

He sighed, and picked up his hamburger, trying to eye how much he could swallow.

Maybe Seraphiel was right. What was there to even rebuild when there was nothing left but the aftermath of his destruction. Well, nothing but rubble. Nothing but what was left of the old world.

Klaus blinked, setting the burger down and staring at it. He looked at the machine, which now displayed the happy characters dancing on its home screen. He looked back at the burger.

“Holy shit, Gonzalez you’re a genius” he breathed.

He stood suddenly, nearly tripping over the back of the bench. He caught himself against the printers and whooped. A mad laugh escaped him as he dashed out of the cafeteria.

He nearly ran into Markus on his way out, forcing the man to quickly backpedal to avoid being run over.

“Klaus? What the hell…?”

“Breakthrough!” Klaus yelled over his shoulder, steading himself against a corner as he practically skidded around the turn at the end of the hall.

He burst into the closet, snatching his research notes and stuffing them frantically into his binder. A familiar groan sounded from behind him as he ducked underneath the cot, checking to make sure he wasn’t missing anything.

“No, father… not after we just got you on a proper self-care routine…” Logos bemoaned.

“Technically wasn’t a routine. Where’s my notes on regeneration? I can’t find them.”

“There’s some papers underneath the shelf to your right-”

“-got them. Go make yourself useful and download all the information we have on the nanomachines in the cafeteria and send them to me. I’ll be in my office.”

Klaus stood and ran out of the closet, leaving Logos’s protests behind. He kicked the door to his lab open, stumbling inside and throwing his notes onto one of the few clean counters. He ran into his adjoining office without missing a beat, scrambling for his tool drawer.

He grabbed a wrench and a screwdriver and a handful of whatever else he had stashed in his drawers and threw them into a toolbox, snapping the lid shut and running out of his office again. One of his legs cramped and he faltered, panting. With a sharp exhale, he gathered the ether in the air around him, letting the now familiar electric feeling wash over him again. Pneuma’s light came around the corner just as he stepped forward and into the cafeteria, almost bumping into Markus who yelped in surprise.

“For the love of God, Klaus could you not?”

“No,” Klaus said, walking up to the machine he had been using earlier. He tossed his toolbox onto the ground next to him and knelt down. He gestured vaguely to his forgotten hamburger.

“You can have that,” he said.

“What-”

He ignored Markus and grabbed his screwdriver. Then he began dismantling the machine bit by bit.

“What are you doing?!”

“It’s fine, there’s like six more,” Klaus said nonchalantly.

“That’s not why I’m asking- oh thank god, Alexandra I think he’s finally lost his goddamned mind.”

“Um, Professor? Is everything okay?” Alexandra asked.

Klaus ignored her, “Logos, did you get me any blueprints?” he asked.

The cafeteria was lit in a purple glow as Logos responded, “I have one here if you’d like to see?”

Klaus pried the metal plating off the bottom of the printer and tossed it to the side, revealing a complex series of wires and computers hidden inside.

Klaus gestured to Logos with the screwdriver, “give.”

A light blue holographic screen appeared in front of Klaus, listing detailed information on the computer in front of him. He glanced between the blueprints and the mess of wires in front of him, trying to put together which piece was which in his mind.

“Um, Professor Klaus maybe you should- and he’s crawling inside the food printer. Great.”

Klaus pushed the wires aside and shoved his upper body inside. He brushed the unnecessary parts to the side until he felt a small square-shaped box near the top of the case.

“Logos, I need light!”

The chamber shone purple, which wasn’t exactly what Klaus wanted, but it was good enough. He squinted in the slightly less darkened area, trying to read the labels that were printed onto the sides of the small box. He hummed, frowning to himself.

He removed himself from the machine and took a step back, examining it. He would have to move it to his lab if he wanted to take a proper look at it. He peered around the back, noting the one wire that plugged into the wall.

“Alexandra, could you get that for me?” he asked her, pointing to the wire.

He heard shuffling and whispering from behind him, so he turned to glare at his students. Alexandra caved quickly.

“Yes, Professor!”

She scooted around him and wedged herself between the machine and the wall, struggling to pull the large wire out of the outlet. It gave after a few tugs and she wiggled herself out.

“Mind telling us what you need this for?” she asked.

Klaus waved her off, placing a hand on the machine and letting the ether spread over him again, it surprised him at how almost effortless it was now.

“Talk later, breakthrough now,” he said, and then he was in his office with the printer beside him.

He got to work, plugging the wire into the nearest outlet and pushing it against the wall. It took some effort, but eventually he had everything in place. He popped back into the cafeteria to grab his toolbox, causing Alexandra to scream, and then teleported back to his lab, already reaching for whatever else he had stuffed inside.

“Okay,” he said to himself, locking his lab door and grabbing a fresh notebook, “take two.”

* * *

_Day one, research from previous documents show that it is possible to reprogram the nanomachines to recreate more than what they were originally designed for: food._

Klaus set down his pen and peered through the microscope, adjusting the lens so he could make out the bot that he had carefully placed underneath it. The bot couldn’t last long outside of the gel that it was supposed to be stored in, perhaps only for a few hours. It needed some form of protective layer to keep it active. He would have to finish this examination quickly if he didn’t want to waste any resources. There was a limited amount of nanobots within the Rhadamanthus, and he refused to risk losing a single one.

Without breaking eye contact with the nanobot, he felt around for his pen and notebook before writing again, forcing himself to look away less he mess up his notes.

_A good thing I majored in computer sciences. However, that is not the greater issue. The only thing these nanomachines are familiar with are, as stated above, food. Their sole purpose is providing necessary nourishment without having to worry about supplies. However, the setback to this is there is a limited memory for the bots, hence the small menu selection. This will have to be terminated in order to prepare for a broader reach, memory will have to be short-term, unfortunately._

Klaus leaned forward, as if to place his head in his hand. His forehead nearly smacked the countertop when he remembered he only had one hand. He shook his head and forced himself to focus.

_And that is where the second issue comes in. Because of the short-term memory, the nanobots will not only have to create, but be reprogrammed entirely to first piece apart the original source in order to successfully make a new, complete copy. In other words, this world will slowly be consumed in order to rebuild it. It is the only way._

_…and this is where the third issue comes into play. As I wrote, it will be a slow process. I…_

Klaus lifted the pen from his paper, taking a breath.

_I highly doubt I will be around to see what the outcome will be. I am not an optimistic person, but I once knew someone who was. I owe this to her, at the very least._

Klaus set his pen down and scrubbed at his face. It was getting late; he could already tell. He pushed himself away from the desk and sat back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling to try and recollect his thoughts. He eyed a hole near the ceiling where a mess of wires hung from the wall, cut haphazardly. A camera sat in the garbage bin beneath it, dead to the world.

He forced himself to sit upright and he grabbed the syringe. He peered through the microscope to make sure he sucked the nanobot back in and quickly deposited it back into the container where the other nanobots were kept in their environment.

Nanobots… so many different nanobots… Did these ones have a particular name?

He penned it down just in case. For now, he needed to focus on setting up the equipment he needed for the reprogramming.

* * *

_Day nine, reprogramming finally successful. However, I must give credit where credit is due. Despite my upbringing and skills, Frederick is far more superior and faster when it comes to new computer languages. If it hadn’t been for him, this project would have been set back for who knows how long._

_He knows my plan. He was uncertain but has granted me his support. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I’m afraid the same won’t be said for the others, when they come to find out. That is one bridge I will have to cross when it comes to it._

Klaus set down his pen and manoeuvred himself over to the other end of the desk, grabbing his binder of notes. He kicked himself back over to his notebook, the old chair’s wheels squeaking against the tiled floor. He set the biner down with a thump and picked his pen back up.

_Before I can begin the testing phase, the nanobots, or nanoparticulates as I’ve coined them, still need an adequate environment so that they do not expire. The gel comes to mind, but that is hardly efficient. It would be impossible to spread them throughout the world without having to wipe it down on every surface. And even then, there is hardly enough to cover even half of this floor._

_The only other solution I can think of is ether. If I bond the nanoparticulates to the ether, there is a high possibility that it could become airborne and begin reconstructing everything it touches._

Klaus began rifling through his notes. Now, where had he written down his ether-oxygen calculations? He was sure it was in this pile somewhere.

“Pneuma,” he asked, “could you give me the current approximate ether to oxygen ratio? I need to verify something.”

He reached the end of his binder and huffed, flipping it back to the start and combing through it again, this time with a little more patience. He spotted the papers tucked somewhere in the middle of the pile and he pulled them out with a flourish. He pushed his binder to the side and lay his papers next to his notepad, already scribbling down new calculations.

“Pneuma? Hello?”

He huffed, tapping the end of his pen against the table rapidly, “Logos, where is your sibling?”

His frown deepened when he received no response, and saw no hint of purple or green shining through the door. He pushed himself back from the desk and cupped his hand around his mouth.

“Logos!”

When his shout received no response either, he grabbed the box of nanoparticulates and shoved them back into the printer, which had since become a glorified office desk, and teleported himself over to the Processor’s room.

Markus and Alexandra were leaning over a console, watching the screens in front of them intently. A quick glance to the side told Klaus that the cores were still in the Processor, and the monster still sat in its cage, asleep.

They really should do something about that soon.

He moved to stand between the two, who hadn’t taken their eyes off the screens.

“Are you busy?” he asked.

Both Alexandra and Markus jumped and whirled on him. Some not so kind expletives shot out of the both of them in shock.

Markus held a hand to his heart, “Holy shit Klaus you have to stop doing that.”

He peered over their shoulders at the screens, which were detailing something happening outside of the Rhadamanthus. He squinted, was that Ophion?

“Is that Ophion?” he asked them.

Alexandra nodded, evidently still getting over her shock.

“Yeah. Our sensors picked up the Saviorite Rebels not too long ago so Logos and Pneuma went to intercept them before things got bad. It looks like they tried sneaking around the other side of the Beanstalk but one of the Colossus’ caught them.”

Klaus hummed. This wasn’t nearly going to go as smoothly as he had hoped.

Markus stepped forward, leaning towards the screen.

“It looks like they’re heading back now, Klaus.”

“Looks like it.”

Markus looked at him, and Klaus saw suspicion glimmer behind his eyes.

“What brought you here? Looking for them?” he asked, gesturing to the screen with his head, “or just popping out of your cave to say hi? Somehow I doubt it’s the latter.”

“I was merely wondering what my AI were getting into. They were not responding to me before and now I know why.”

Klaus nodded to both of them, “goodbye.”

He teleported back into his lab before either of them could say anything and busied himself with pouring over the notes he had practically memorized by now.

Later, he’d tell them later.

* * *

_Day twelve, the environment has been adjusted properly. I am confident that we won’t lose any more_ _nanoparticulates this time._

_An update on the Saviorite Rebels: nothing has been heard from them since Pneuma and Logos chased them off three days ago. The silence disturbs me, this relative peace cannot last for much longer. I fear another strike will happen soon. Perhaps I should up the security near the Data Processing room._

_Nonetheless, the others have this taken care of. I should trust their judgement._

Klaus flexed his hand, feeling restless. He caught himself automatically reaching for his pocket, but his hand grasped air.

He could trust the others. They weren’t arrogant or negligent in their work. Not like he was.

He pressed his head against the table, taking a moment to collect himself.

He spoke in the empty room, his voice sounding louder than he intended in the pressing silence, “How in the world did you ever put up with me?”

He clenched his hand against his side, ignoring the burning from his wound caused by the flexing. He took a second to breathe, and then sat back up, grabbing his pen. He would have to check the bandages later. It had been a long time since he cleaned his wound last.

_I also trust Frederick’s judgement when it comes to the new program. As mentioned in the previous entry (Day eleven), it turns out my short-term memory solution was, well, that: short term. Of course, the nanoparticulates cannot keep a large memory bank forever, so while during reconstruction, the nanoparticulates will bond to the surface they are recreating, and store that data._

_This is the ideal option… however it will take far longer than my approximate fifty-year estimation date. This project will likely surpass my lifetime by centuries. But if it will help the world heal, then it is the least I can offer._

_I will dedicate my life to this cause, if it means I can regain even a sliver of my honor as a scientist, and as a human._

Klaus set his notebook to the side and sighed. He stretched in his seat, his back popping. Perhaps it would be wise if he rested before conducting the first experiment. He reread through his notes and snorted. It really had been a while since he had written a professional report. His notes were making out to sound more like a journal than a lab report.

“Pneuma?” he called, then winced at the crackle in his misused voice.

He cleared his throat, then tried again, “Pneuma?”

“Yes father?”

“What time is it?”

“Just in time for dinner. You haven’t eaten anything today, again.”

Klaus could almost hear the exasperation in Pneuma’s voice. He smiled at the ceiling.

“I seem to be just fine, Pneuma. The Conduit provides me with enough energy to function normally.”

“Yeah right,” Logos interrupted suddenly, purple lights intertwining with green outside his door, “you’re about two skipped lunches away from being mistaken for a twig. Don’t get me wrong father, but isn’t it unhealthy for a human’s ribs to be showing through their clothes?”

Klaus glanced down at his makeshift robe and frowned when he realized that Logos wasn’t wrong.

“How do you know it is the Conduit providing you with that energy, father?” Pneuma asked, ignoring her sibling.

“I… don’t. It’s a hypothesis. The low humming I hear, and the golden energy I can control, it’s very reminiscent to the Conduit, is it not?”

“Right. So that means you should go eat before you collapse into a pile of bones and dust.”

“Please father?” Pneuma’s voice was a tad more pleasant than her sibling’s, “if not for you then for us?”

Klaus groaned and looked at his work. He hated having to leave a project unfinished. Then again, despite seemingly not having the need to eat, the small pangs in his stomach were getting harder to ignore, and Pneuma and Logos did make some maybe not so compelling points, but fair points all the same.

He… supposed that nothing could harm his work if he left for a fifteen-minute lunch.

He glanced up at the door. Green and purple shone brightly, and Klaus suspected if they were in a tangible form, they would be giving him puppy dog eyes.

He groaned dramatically, pushing himself off the chair and walking towards the door, grabbing the keys on the shelf next to it so he could lock it on the way out.

“Fine, you two don’t have to twist my arm.”

Pneuma and Logos flashed briefly and brightly, they followed him down to the cafeteria, happily answering any questions Klaus asked about the goings-on of the Rhadamanthus.

He supposed taking the time for a stroll wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

* * *

_Day fifteen, beginning the second round of tests. It would appear that the nanoparticulates react positively around ether, which is a good sign. That means the research can continue as planned._

Klaus held the jar of nanoparticulates aloft, examining the clear glass. It was impossible to see the nanoparticulates without some sort of microscope, and without the clear jell that the bots hibernated and charged in, it was impossible to tell if there was anything in the jar at all.

Carefully, he placed the jar behind the glass wall of his examination machine. The mechanical arms picked the jar up gently, tipping the top towards Klaus slightly. Next, he grabbed a second jar; this one was filled with pure ether he had extracted from himself. He had tried to use the purest form of ether, which came directly from the Conduit, but the power alone was more than enough to fry the poor bots. Hopefully the ether from him would have filtered through enough oxygen to prevent that from happening again.

He placed the second jar inside the glass door, and then sealed it shut, allowing the arms inside to finish the work.

_Hopefully, this time with a little less ether, it will be easier to examine the rebuilding properly._

The mechanical arms positioned themselves above the jars, fingers ready to open the tops and begin the reaction at Klaus’s command.

_I will use the paperclip again. It is a small and simple object. It should not take long to copy and rebuild. Estimated time before insertion to complete is one hour._

Klaus reached over and grabbed the paperclip, holding it gently between his fingers. He slid the glass door open and placed the paperclip in the middle of the platform deliberately. He wasted no time in resealing the glass.

He rested his hand on the panel that would control the hands inside. He held his breath.

Klaus wasn’t much of a holy man before, only attending the occasional service at Elysium and the small service they had held in Gonzalez’s honour, but he prayed to whoever may be listening that this worked.

He pressed the button to unscrew the jar caps, and just like before, the glass immediately fogged up as the nanoparticulates and the ether bonded together.

The fog was thick and had no colour to it, like the last time, but it didn’t explode violently either. This time the reaction was far calmer, though as the time went on, the fog grew thicker.

Klaus quickly started the timer he had set next to his notebook and peered through the glass, trying to spot the paperclip. It was hard to find, but it was still there, sat in the middle exactly where Klaus had placed it.

He paced around the room before eventually settling down into his seat, watching the foggy glass intently.

He had things he could to the pass the time. It was only an hour. He didn’t have to stare at the machine the whole time.

His fingers tapped against his knee and he eyed the timer. Approximately just over three minutes had passed. He stood and leant against the glass; from what he could see, the paperclip remained unchanging.

…Perhaps it was a better use of his time to see what Pneuma and Logos were up to.

* * *

It hadn’t worked.

Five hours had passed, and nothing had changed.

Klaus stood pouring over his notes again and again, checking and rechecking his detailed journal and his calculations, running them through Logos until he stopped responding to Klaus’s requests to ‘run through that calculation one more time for me.’

He fiddled with the dosage level from both sides, but there was little to no effect. Either there wasn’t enough ether in the solution, or there was just a smidge too much, and the bots would short-circuit and die permanently.

A knock at the door startled him out of his frantic ruminations.

“Father? Frederick wishes to speak with you.”

Klaus groaned, “Let him in.”

The lock clicked open, and Frederick peeked in, scanning the room for Klaus before fully stepping in and closing the door gently behind him.

“Wow,” he said, staring Klaus’s notes with wide eyes, “you uh… really do a lot of work in here.”

Klaus grumbled, “what else do you think I’m doing.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Klaus shuffled his papers around once more. Maybe if he tried with something simpler than a paperclip. Maybe he had the dosage correct this whole time.

“So… what went wrong this time?” Frederick asked.

Klaus threw the papers he was holding onto the counter, not finding much satisfaction in the way it hit the surface without so much as a thump. He gestured wildly at the whole lab.

“Everything, Frederick! Nothing is working. I try, and I try but there’s nothing coming out of this!”

“…The others are worried about you, Klaus.”

Klaus gave him a deadpan look. Frederick cleared his throat.

“Right, um, Alexandra is worried about you. Markus is still… processing.”

He snorted, focusing back on his papers. Alexandra and Markus could wait.

“Look, I know you don’t trust me. If I were you, I wouldn’t trust me either.”

“Wow, compelling.”

“Just- hear me out. You can’t rush this, Professor.”

Klaus glanced at Frederick, who still hovered near the entrance of his lab. He stood next to the wall and was so still that if Klaus hadn’t let him in, he likely wouldn’t have noticed him. Klaus shivered; this was the man who was supposed to kill him?

“Time stops for no one, Frederick.”

“Klaus-”

“-Frederick,” he interrupted him before he could continue, “do you regret it?”

Frederick was silent, and Klaus occupied himself with flipping through his notes, waiting for his response.

“…Regret what?”

“Letting me live.”

Frederick laughed uneasily, toying with the hems of his sleeves once again.

“Um, wow that… uh… certainly came out of nowhere.”

Klaus shuffled a pile of papers to the side; those were useless for now. He silently began combing through his calculations and waited.

“I- um, I mean…”

Frederick ran a hand through his hair, sighing heavily.

“I don’t know. I don’t think so. But, more or less for selfish reasons.”

Klaus tilted his head inquisitively in his direction.

“I don’t think I would’ve been able to cope with the death of a child on my hands.”

“Fair enough.”

Klaus could feel Frederick’s stare burn through the back of his head. He spotted some inaccuracies in his notes and began crossing them out. His shoulder tensed under the sudden weight of the silence.

Frederick cleared his throat, “would you rather I have?”

“Frederick was there any reason in particular you came to see me?” Klaus asked.

Frederick frowned at the interruption but answered Klaus anyway.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure you’re not going to work yourself to the ground again. That’s all.”

“Well, you’ve seen me. I’m fine,” Klaus waved him off. “Good day, Frederick. You know where the door is.”

“Well, ‘fine’ is stretching it a bit…”

Klaus glared at him, and Frederick held up his hands peacefully.

“O-okay, okay. I’m going.”

Klaus focused back on his notes, but his attention was drawn back to Frederick when his footsteps stopped in front of the door. He turned fully to face Frederick, whose hand rested on the door handle. Frederick gave Klaus a look over his shoulder that he couldn’t read.

“I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll see you later, Professor.”

With that, he opened the door and left. Klaus turned his frustrated glare to his papers. He would solve this, no matter what it took.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, this chapter would just not get along with me. There were a lot of scenes that ended up getting rewritten. I think turned out well in the end, I hope you guys think so too!
> 
> By the way, I just wanted to let you guys know that Lost in Orbit will be taking a short hiatus for the next week. When life comes at you, you gotta do what you can to take care of yourself 😊  
> It’s nothing to worry about, in fact it’s good news! I just won’t have time to update on schedule, sorry everyone.
> 
> Thanks for reading! I’ll see you on the next update on the 21st <3


	14. Resolve/Martyr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/CW listed on the end notes for this chapter. <3  
> (P.S. Did anyone else freak out over the latest smash reveal? Let’s go Pyra and Mythra!! You gals deserve it :D)

The clock was ticking.

Not literally, Klaus had long since tossed out the now broken clock in both his lab and his office. The ticking had been driving him mad. However, he hadn’t accounted for the ghost of the clock to follow him as he worked. It felt as though the ticking grew louder and louder in his mind every time something went wrong.

His notes were growing sloppy and his writing was neigh unintelligible. But he was so close, he could practically grasp it, and he hated it.

Was this a taste of true hell?

The computer he had hooked up to the printer beeped at him again, an error flashing across the screen in angry red letters. Klaus wanted to scream; he had already _fixed that line_.

“Logos!” Klaus yelled.

“If I had ears, they would be ringing.”

He gestured towards the computer screen. “What did I do this time?”

Logos paused, then spoke haltingly, “your code is wrong.”

“I know my code is wrong, but I already _fixed_ it.”

“You did not. May I?”

Klaus gave up, slumping onto the table and waved Logos over to the computer. He watched the code change before his eyes, wrinkling his nose at the numerous corrections Logos was manually going through. He huffed a breath, blowing stray strands of hair out of his face. How annoying. Sometimes it truly did feel as if he were working with half a brain. It was embarrassing how often he had a tendency to either space out or derail his train of thought.

“What are you changing this code for, father? I thought you and Frederick were happy with this?”

Klaus grunted, “does it matter? It may not even work.”

“I would like to know anyway.”

“Memory issues. Again,” Klaus sighed heavily, resting his chin on the desk. “I’m trying to implement the program into each of the nanoparticulates rather than having them rely on a sole machine to relay their code to. It would just be more efficient.”

“That’s a lot of work,” Logos sounded surprised, “and it would take a lot of time.”

A headache suddenly struck Klaus without warning and he grunted, rubbing his forehead. Just great.

“No kidding. I don’t have a choice, however. Everyone’s lives are in the balance, I just need a little more time. A week, maybe,” he said.

“Father I don’t think-”

“I can get it done in a week.”

“But that’s-”

“Logos, enough!” Klaus snapped, lifting himself out of his chair. There was a tug in the air, followed by the sound of something shattering on the ground next to him. He blinked at the broken mug on the floor, surprised. He had forgotten about his drink. He supposed he left it too close to the edge without realizing.

Logos left without another word and Klaus focused back on the monitor, his headache already feeling like a distant memory. He blew out a slow and steady breath, trying to calm himself.

“I can get it done. I promise.”

* * *

“Relay and store… relay and store… Logos and Pneuma can take care of that…”

Klaus marked down his notes and then kicked his chair over to the printer and peered through the murky glass. He sighed when he could only make out the single paperclip. He kicked himself back over to the counter.

“Test two hundred and twenty-three is a failure. More adjusting necessary.”

He scribbled it down, and then kicked himself around to the computer on the counter opposite of him. It was becoming a routine; fix the programming, write the notes, fix the ether dosage, write the notes, wait an hour then check the paperclip, write the notes.

He had long since lost track of time, he figured the last time he had left the lab was a week ago, when Pneuma had threatened to sedate him again.

He couldn’t afford to waste any more time. The Saviorite Rebels attacks were ceaseless, and they were losing more Artifices by the day. It was a race against time, and Klaus was losing. It wasn’t just the Saviorite Rebels that scared him, however. His own mortality hung over him like a towering shadow, and it only grew darker with every second that passed.

The pressure alone was almost enough to make him want to stop everything and wait out the rest of his days in his lab.

“Knock knock.”

Purple flashed at the bottom of the door, and Klaus dragged himself out of his thoughts, mentally kicking himself for spacing out.

“What?” he said.

“You’re supposed to say who’s there.”

Klaus rolled his eye and went back to his notes, rereading to make sure he hadn’t messed anything up.

“I’m not playing your games, Logos.”

“Aw,” Logos whined, “you’re worse than Pneuma. At least she says, ‘who’s there’.”

“Go bother the others.”

“I already did. They told me to leave.”

Silence fell over them, and Klaus was just beginning to think Logos had finally left when he spoke up again.

“I can’t see what you’re doing in there. What are you doing?”

Klaus sighed, trying to cool his spiking temper before responding.

“Reading my notes.”

“Oh. Well, Pneuma’s siren is all fixed. Frederick wanted me to tell you.”

“Good.”

Klaus scratched out a useless line in his notes; he really shouldn’t be rambling in it as if it were a journal. He tapped his pen against the paper then dropped it, kicking his chair over to the printer. He looked though the glass against his better judgement and groaned, the paperclip was still alone and unchanged. What was he doing wrong? He swore sometimes it was like watching water boil.

“Do… you want to come see? It’s nearly completely charged, and she’s taking it out for a test flight soon.”

“Logos, I don’t have time.”

Purple light pulsed, “I think you have a little more than you think.”

Klaus massaged his temple. “How long?”

“Ten minutes, promise.”

“Fine-”

“-Great! See you at the launch pad!”

Logos vanished and left Klaus alone with his new headache. He finished scribbling the rest of his plans for test two hundred and twenty-four and stood, cracking his back. He teleported out of his lab so he wouldn’t have to bother with unlocking the door and set off down the hall.  
When he turned the corner, he saw Logos waiting for him. The lights buzzed in what Klaus had long since associated as a sense happiness and accompanied him the rest of the walk to see Pneuma.

* * *

“Father?” Pneuma’s voice drifted through the lab’s locked door, “Frederick wishes to see you.”

“In a moment,” Klaus said.

He focused again; his research notes pushed aside temporarily. He held out his hand and the jar of ether slid across the countertop smoothly. It landed in his open palm. He pushed it back gently to the other end of the counter until it hit the wall.

“Logos also wished to relay a message to you.”

Klaus called the jar back to his palm. “What?”

“Erm, something about the refrigerators.”

Klaus snorted, and pushed the jar back again. “Tell him nice try.”

Klaus caught the jar again and pushed it back a little more forcefully.

“Father? It’s getting late.”

He sighed, “I know, Pneuma.”

Pull, push.

“Alexandra and Markus are concerned. They haven’t seen you in weeks.”

“I know, Pneuma.”

Emerald lights blinked lowly, and Klaus focused back on his notes, setting the jar of ether to the side. After a second thought, he nudged it closer to the edge of the counter. He looked up when he realized the room was slowly being taken over by a green glow.

He frowned at the wall, “I thought I said you two were barred from entering.”

“You did.”

Klaus spun around on the chair, watching the lights with mild displeasure, “So you see what’s wrong with this picture?”

“Please go to sleep father, just for tonight? Alexandra and Markus aren’t the only ones concerned. I’ll even let Frederick know you’re busy.”

“I’ll sleep when this project is complete. And yes, do that anyway. I don’t have the energy.”

Pneuma paused, evaluating her response. Klaus rested his head in his hand and leant against the chair’s arm, waiting.

“There is a human saying that goes along the lines of taking care of yourself first before you can help others,” Pneuma spoke softly. “Do not be a martyr, father.”

Klaus waved her off, “I’m not going to sacrifice myself, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

If Pneuma had a face, she would be frowning. Klaus could feel the disappointment in her words when she answered. “Of course.”

His head was suddenly struck by another headache and he grunted. They were starting to get worse.

“Father?” Pneuma asked, likely tipped off from the noise. He had forgotten for a moment that she was practically blind in this room.

“It’s fine, just another headache. It will go away.”

“They have been happening often?” Pneuma asked.

“Mmh, every so often. Usually just before-”

He spun his chair around and caught the jar just as it was beginning to tip over the side. He ran his thumb over the glass, frowning at it. He set it back on the counter, this time purposely pushing it away from the edge.

“So not only when I’m expecting it…” he muttered and grabbed his pen.

“Father? Did something happen?”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry over, Pneuma. I’ve only recently busied myself with a smaller experiment to pass the time between test results, is all.”

“Father,” Pneuma scolded, “you shouldn’t be piling projects on yourself when you’re already exhausted.”

“It’s fine. Look, if it’ll make you and Logos happy, I’ll sleep on the cot tonight, okay?”

“…Where else have you been sleeping?”

“Irrelevant.”

“That’s not-”

Klaus yawned loudly, stretching his arms and standing from the chair. He stood on sleepy legs, wincing at the feeling of pins and needles shocking their way up his body. He examined the paperclip one last time before locking up the lab. Klaus sighed when he spotted no changes and the disappointment hung over him as he left.

Reality warped around Klaus in shades of gold and then he was back in the hall outside the lab. He began walking towards what was apparently his now designated bedroom and Pneuma’s light shot out of the lab after him, quickly catching up.

“Happy?” Klaus spoke. “And you didn’t even have to threaten me this time.”

Pneuma didn’t respond, but the distant whir of a medical drone kicked Klaus into high gear, and he quickened his pace towards the makeshift bedroom.

“Very funny,” he muttered at the green light, which blinked innocently.

“How was the Siren, by the way?” he asked as they came up to the door. “Test flight seemed to go well.”

“You watched?”

Klaus glanced down at the green light. He shrugged and opened the door.

“Of course.”

Pneuma followed him inside, brightening the room.

“Basic motor skills are functional, but it would be unwise to send it to battle. External repairs on the armour still need to be made,” she said.

Klaus flopped onto the cot, rolling onto his side.

“Those are good signs,” he said.

The lights in the room dimmed as Pneuma made her exit. The room was left dark except for the small patch of green light outside the door where Pneuma remained vigil.

“Sleep well, father.”

He waved at the door, knowing Pneuma somehow got the message and Klaus settled in, staring at the wall until sleep claimed him.

* * *

Two months.

It had been. Two. Months.

And nothing was working.

If the papers Klaus was holding weren’t imperative to his work, he would be shredding them up and tossing them into an incinerator. Instead, he settled for grabbing the pillow he had borrowed from his room and screamed into it once again.

He threw the pillow against the wall and opened the glass window that separated him from the experiment. Artificial fog drifted over the edge of the machine, flowing languidly to the floor. Klaus reached in without a thought and his hand knocked into one of the glass jars. It fell from the mechanical hands and hit the platform underneath with a crash. Klaus grabbed the paperclip and threw it across the room, taking little satisfaction in the way it hit the wall and disappeared behind a counter.

A sharp sting brought him out of his anger-induced haze, and he cursed when he spotted blood already dripping out of a deep slice in his hand. He kicked the printer, relishing in the pain that shot up his leg, then limped over to his office. He shouldered the door open and began rummaging for his first aid kit.

To say his office had changed drastically over the last few months was an understatement.

His desk was now pushed against the only wall that wasn’t occupied by a bookshelf, and in its original place sat a messy nest of pillows and blankets he had borrowed from one of the storage rooms. The fake window that normally displayed a green field back somewhere on earth was turned off, and a black screen reflected the room instead. The heater that his nest of blankets was pushed up against was turned off, leaving the room void of any background noises.

The hundreds of books that normally sat neat and orderly on his shelfs were scattered around the floor or thrown haphazardly back onto the shelf, their pages crumpled or straight up torn from the abuse.

Klaus had to practically dance his way around the open books and notes on the floor to get to the shelf at the back of his office without disturbing his work. Though he had half a mind to just kick everything out of his way. What good was research if it wasn’t going to do anything in the end.

He quickly retrieved the first aid kit that lay open on one of the middle shelves and he snatched one of the few remaining bandages out of it.

With a new bandage slapped over the back of his hand, Klaus stormed out of his office, pausing when he noticed the wreck his laboratory had become. He slumped at the sight of the cloudy mixture floating along the floor of the lab, his emotions simmering at the messy sight. As he moved to close the observation window, a familiar shine caught his eye.

“…Is this a bad time?”

Purple flashed from under the door and Klaus glared at it.

“ _Yes.”_

“Cool. Frederick wants to talk to you.”

Klaus shut the window forcefully, cutting off the cloudy stream. “Frederick always wants to talk. Tell him I’m busy,” he said.

There was a pause, then Logos lowered his voice, “Frederick, I’m afraid the Professor is busy, are there any other dates you would be willing to set an appointment for?”

Klaus slumped, pressing his forehead against the cool glass just as a knock resounded from the door.

“Klaus, let me in. We need to talk before the others get here.”

Klaus made his way over to the door. He paused near the entrance where a small rotund robot sat in the corner. He activated it with a tap of his foot and it immediately took off, collecting the leftover nanoparticulates in the air. He opened the door and let Frederick in, locking it behind him.

He made sure to let his displeasure known when he spoke to Frederick. “What do you mean they’ll be here soon?”

“I, well…”

Klaus brushed past him and grabbed some paper towels. He had some cleaning to do anyway. May as well make use of the time Frederick was wasting with his nervous sputtering by doing something productive.

He stooped down to wipe the drops of blood from the floor. He wanted to be sure there wasn’t a spot of it left behind. He checked the observation chamber as well, and though the glass was far less foggy than it had been before he had opened the chamber, he couldn’t make out any traces of his blood. He frowned; it had been a deep cut. Though perhaps it hadn’t started bleeding until after he had thrown the useless paperclip.

He shrugged and tossed the paper towel away. He would have to clean out the glass from the broken jar later when everything was cleared out.

“…I- I may or may not have told them about your project.”

Klaus froze, then spun around. “You _what_.”

Frederick backpedaled quickly, throwing up his hands, “L-look, they can pretty convincing when they want information! Besides this isn’t something you should really be hiding…”

Klaus opened his mouth to snap at him, but felt his mounting frustration fizzle out, giving way to a dark empty feeling instead. He sighed and instead he opted to start cleaning the counters. If there was going to be company, he may as well make his laboratory look presentable.

It was a good excuse to find a place to hide his research notes at the very least.

“No, you’re right,” he said, “they were bound to find out either way.”

“You’re… not angry?” Frederick asked.

Klaus tapped his collected papers against the counter, properly aligning them before stuffing them into a drawer. He stared at the wall as he spoke, “I don’t know. Maybe. I suppose there isn’t really a point.”

He locked the drawer then turned to face a frowning Frederick. He opened his mouth, then closed it – clearly having changed his mind on something.

“I heard um, some noises before I came in. How’s the project coming along anyway?” Frederick asked.

Klaus huffed, “it’s not. The damn things won’t work. I’m beginning to believe that food is the only thing they’re good for.”

He gestured towards the foggy machine, and Frederick took his permission to step forward and examine it closely.

“I’ve tried just about everything. Those things are useless.”

“Have you?” Frederick tilted his head in his direction. “From what I’ve seen, you don’t tend to wait for very long before you rush to change something in the formula.”

Klaus moved to cross his arms, then stopped suddenly, aborting the action. He settled for leaning against his arm on the counter instead, scowling at Frederick. Damn it all.

“That’s the one thing I don’t have, Frederick. Time is precious, and we’re wasting it by just having this conversation.”

Frederick faced him fully, his frown never leaving his face. “This project is something that takes time, Klaus. This shouldn’t be rushed.”

A spark against the wick. Klaus stood fully, towering over Frederick.

“I don’t have time. None of us do. The Saviorite Rebels are at our doorstep every second of the day, and who knows how much longer we’ve got until they’re in and they finish the rest of us off.”

“Klaus, you can’t expect to get this on the first try. This sort of technology takes years to master – and not only that but you’re trying to entirely repurpose it for something even the greatest minds have only ever imagined in their dreams.”

Frederick hesitated; his arm outstretched towards Klaus. It fell limply to his side and he glanced away.

“This would take generations to complete, even if there was more than one person working on this. It just needs time.”

“I don’t have time!” Klaus yelled.

“Klaus-”

“No, don’t ‘Klaus’ me,” he stalked forward, shoving a finger at Markus who was forced to back away from his advance.

“This project isn’t something I can just wait around for it to finish on its own. Unless you have a better solution, then please be my guest!”

Frederick took a breath to steady himself. He met Klaus’s eye.

“If you keep going like this, you’ll kill yourself, Professor. You can’t take care of the world unless you take care of yourself.”

“Well maybe I’ll die anyway! I don’t know how much longer I’ve got left in this stupid body.”

Frederick flinched back, but his eyes betrayed a hint of sympathy. Klaus hated it. He stepped away from Frederick, the other man giving a visible sigh of relief.

“I don’t even know if I have a heart, or hell, I don’t know if I’ve even got half my organs left. I don’t know if my death will be slow and agonizing, or if I’ll just drop dead at any second. It’s agonizing!”

Klaus paced the room, flexing his hand. “I need to fix this while I still can, but nothing is working,” he could feel his frustration mounting to his breaking point, and Klaus snapped. “If I can’t save us all, then what is even the point?!”

Klaus slammed his hand on the counter, and the epoxy countertop split with a sickening crack. Frederick jumped back, nearly knocking into the machinery behind him.

He carefully pried his hand away from the counter, shaking. He flexed his hand. It was sore, but unbroken. He could manage the pain. He heaved in his breaths until the shaking stopped, and the red faded from his vision.

Frederick cleared his throat, looking at Klaus’s hand warily.

“I- I don’t think you can, Klaus.”

Klaus stared at him. He shook.

“I’m sorry,” Frederick said, his eyes downcast.

“…Don’t be.”

Klaus stepped away from the poor man, who glanced up as he distanced himself.

“This was never what I wanted.”

Frederick peered up at him, his head tilted in curiosity, but still hunched away from Klaus – like he was afraid he was going to turn on him again.

“What did you want?” Frederick asked quietly.

Klaus leaned against the broken counter. His eye traced the cracks along the shiny surface, his blurry reflection staring back at him impassively.

“I don’t think I know anymore.”

“Well…” Frederick sidled up to him, still keeping a fair distance, but Klaus could see his confidence building. “Maybe you can’t save us.”

He held up a finger at Klaus’s glare, “But! Maybe you can still help the world heal. Let that be our last gift.”

“Last gift?”

“Well, yeah?” Frederick scratched the back of his head. “You know, to say we were rough with it before all of this would be an understatement. I think this would make a pretty good apology, after everything. Especially coming from you.”

Frederick jumped suddenly. “Er, that’s not to say that you- I-”

Klaus huffed a tired laugh despite himself and rolled his eye. “No offense taken. It’s true.”

“So…” Klaus watched the ceiling, letting the time pass by. “I have some explaining to do soon.”

“You do.”

He sighed again, “I just hope they’re not too angry about it.”

Frederick’s silence afterword did nothing to settle the doubts in Klaus’s mind.

* * *

“And you didn’t even bother to tell us?!”

Markus was yelling again, back in Klaus’s face. He was careful to keep his expression blank, but it was hard with not just an angry Markus, but a disappointed Alexandra lurking in the background, who still hadn’t said a word since they had arrived.

Klaus waited for the spittle to stop flying out of Markus’s mouth before he spoke calmly, “I did what I thought was right.”

“‘What you thought was right’ oh some on, give me a break,” Klaus stepped back as Markus leaned closer. Despite the clear height difference between the two of them, the attempt at intimidation that Markus was giving off was nearly enough to snap Klaus’s composure. “Is that the only excuse you’ve got up your ass?”

A dim flash of green and purple drew Klaus’s attention over Markus’s shoulder. Pneuma and Logos sat behind the door, listening to the escalating argument from the outside. Klaus was briefly thrown back to his younger days, where he would hide behind his bedroom door while Felicity argued with whatever ‘friend’ she had brought home the night before.

He pushed down the fire that fought to control him and took a deep breath, reconstructing his calm façade. Infighting was the worst they could do to each other now.

“This is for the good of the world, not for us. Be angry with me if you must, I don’t blame you, but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Bullshit! What happened to the experiments on those monsters?”

“Irreversible. I’m sorry.”

“So why keep this a secret from us?” Alexandra asked. Her voice was quiet, though there was an underlying sense of frustration bubbling in her words.

“I…” He found he couldn’t answer, his words caught in his throat and vanished like smoke. He clenched his jaw and looked away. He couldn’t look her in the eyes.

“Professor, please,” Alexandra said. “Give me a reason to be on your side. Stop hiding these things from us and stop pushing us away.”

Markus stepped back from Klaus, his glare scathing. “Give it up, Alexandra,” then he turned to Klaus, “I quit.”

Klaus jerked back, as did everyone else in the room.

“You what?” Alexandra said, stepping towards Markus. “What do you mean ‘you quit’?”

“Once I stop the Rebels, I’m leaving. Clearly there’s no hope for us here.”

This time it was Frederick who stepped in, clearly having had enough. “Markus. There’s no way you can expect to defeat the Rebels just like that on your own. They may not be invincible, but if Klaus can’t stop them, then none of us can.”

“Well, someone has to! I’m sick of being cooped up in here like it’s some sick game of cat and mouse. When are we going to step up and finish the job, because clearly _somebody_ won’t!”

Klaus glared, “I’m trying my best here.”

A shiver shot up his spine and Klaus instinctively glanced to the door. Pneuma and Logos were still there, but the chill didn’t go away.

“Well clearly you’re not because we’re still stuck in the same position as we have been for the last few months!”

Klaus frowned at the door; his head throbbed.

“Pneuma, Logos? Is everything okay out there?”

“Hey, don’t ignore me!”

“Everything is fine. Is there something wrong, father?”

Klaus’s head twinged, and he had the very distinct feeling that yes, something was wrong.

Or going to be wrong.

“Pneuma, check on the Artifices please? Logos I want you on standby with your Siren.”

“Uh, sure.”

Both lights vanished, and Klaus tensed, feeling all eyes in the room on him once again.

Alexandra crossed her arms. “What was that all about?”

Klaus held up a dismissive hand, not taking his eye off the door. They waited in tense silence.

Logos’s voice came back through the speakers. “Just scanned, there’s nothing out here, father.”

“Wait.”

Logos did. Markus huffed and crossed his arms, putting on a show of displeasure. Klaus ignored him and kept his eye on the door.

“Yeah, there’s nothing-” Logos cut himself off, and Klaus sucked in a sharp breath.

A single alarm rung through the lab, startling the other three occupants. Klaus scowled.

Pneuma spoke through the alarm, “Father! Two of the Saviorite Rebels have been spotted outside the vicinity of the Rhadamanthus. They very nearly snuck underneath our radar.”

“Okay, that’s great,” Markus said. “But where’s the third?”

“I’m sorry,” Pneuma said. “I cannot locate her. Logos and I must drive the others away first. It is of paramount importance that you find somewhere to take shelter for the time being.”

Klaus turned to the others. “Go. I will make sure the Trinity Processor and everything else is secure. Meet me in the nearest breakroom. There should be enough supplies left in there to protect ourselves with.”

Alexandra started, “But-”

“No arguments – Go!”

Markus led the others out of the lab, and Klaus locked the door behind them. He stepped back and with a golden flash he was suddenly next to the Trinity Processor. The protective cover still sat over the cores and Klaus sighed, relieved. A quick glance around the room told him he was alone, so he quickly bent reality once more.

He didn’t really want to stay there any longer than what was necessary anymore.

The hum was the first thing that greeted his senses. The golden haze of the Conduit still coated the room and Klaus shivered, feeling small. Turning, he saw the crater next to the broken doorway still remained unfixed. It was a liability, but for now…

Klaus picked up some stray desks and shoved them into the doorway, melding them together to form another wall. Nobody was getting in. He turned to the panel in front of him, wincing at the broken computer.

He quickly located the button he was searching for and hit it. Immediately with a groan, the gates behind the window fell shut, cutting off the Conduit’s light in the room and effectively hiding it from sight.

He stepped forward into the breakroom, startling Frederick.

“Did you lock yourselves in?” He asked.

“Y-yeah that’s all done. We didn’t see anybody on our way here.”

Klaus nodded. “Good. I still have one more place to check. Stay here.”

“Where are you…?”

Klaus stepped back and the breakroom vanished. He closed his eye, he had only ever been in this room once, being one of the very few people permitted at the time. Hopefully he remembered it right and hadn’t just stepped into some random room.

He opened his eye, and the room was dark. He could hardly see what was in front of him. He only knew he was in the right place when he noticed the faint signs of green, purple, and red flashing from behind him. He turned, taking in the sight of Aion for the second time in his life.

The last Artifice dwarfed everything in the room. Klaus had to crane his neck to even see the top. The lights that decorated it were dim. It was powered off. He noticed the red lights were fainter than the other two, slowly beginning to taper off.

Looking around, he was relieved when he saw no signs of forced entry, but he checked the rest of the room anyway. He summoned a ball of golden light to his hand, using it to check the particularly dark corners of the room.

When he still saw nothing, Klaus took one last look at Aion before vanishing into the ether and appearing back into the breakroom.

He shook his head at the other’s questioning glances. “Nothing. We’re good for now.”

Alexandra sat on one of the couches, fiddling with a loose string on its arm.

“So… how long do we stay here for?” she asked.

Klaus shrugged, taking the seat across from her.

“Until Logos and Pneuma are finished and give us the all-clear.”

The clock on the wall behind Klaus ticked in the following silence, and his eye twitched. Damn that sound. It was making him twitchy.

The breakroom was nothing to look at, unfortunately. The lights were off, and the only source of light being the small lamp on the coffee table between Klaus and Alexandra. The vending machine and one of the old arcade machines had been shoved against the door while Klaus was gone. Next to the television on the back wall, an old coffee station sat untouched and Klaus grimaced. He didn’t want to know the last time it had been changed. But he had a pretty good idea.

The coffee here hadn’t been the best anyway.

The clock ticked away the seconds, then the minutes, and Klaus was pretty sure they were just coming around their first hour when Markus finally broke.

“I can’t stand this, are they done yet Professor?”

Alexandra shushed him, and Klaus tilted his head up at Markus from where he lay on the couch.

“Don’t know,” he said.

Markus grunted and crossed his arms. He walked past Frederick who sat on a small beanbag chair and began fiddling with the coffee station.

“Don’t make too much noise,” Klaus said, and he received a glare in response. Markus thankfully heeded his advice, and no sound other than the light clinking of ceramic mugs interrupted the silence.

A splitting headache suddenly struck Klaus, strong enough to jerk him back into a sitting position. It faded quickly, and he stood. Something was wrong.

“Klaus?” Alexandra asked, drawing the others attention.

“Be on guard,” he said.

He heard Frederick and Alexandra scramble to their feet from behind him. Even Markus had quit his idle fidgeting – standing at attention. Klaus eyed the door warily, not trusting the barricade that the others had set up earlier.

He glanced at the clock. It had been just over an hour, Pneuma and Logos should have long since dispatched the Rebels by now.

The space around the door was dark and empty. Where were they?

Suddenly the speakers crackled to life, and Klaus jumped. An alarm blared throughout the station.

Pneuma’s voice sounded shrill. “Father she’s inside! Look out!”

Klaus didn’t have enough time to throw up a shield and he was struck to the ground, the wall next to him exploding outward. Smoke billowed into the room; the red alert sirens that flashed through from the other side glinted off metal feathers.

Seraphiel strode forward, blocking a wild strike of golden ether from Klaus with her wings. He scrambled to his feet, charging as much ether into the room as possible. The static from the amount of ether alone was enough to make his hairs stand on end.

Before she could take another step forward, he struck. Ether-laced lightning arced towards Seraphiel in the blink of an eye, brightening the room with golden light. Her wings curled into her as the lightning made contact, throwing her back a few inches.

Klaus watched in satisfaction as she took in the attack, then froze when he saw her step forward, taking a low unfamiliar stance. His breath lodged in his chest when he saw the golden light collect into the palm of her hand. She pointed at Klaus, and the lightning sparked.

He gathered the ether around him once more, forming a shield. He tensed, preparing for the impact from the redirect.

The lightning missed him by a hair’s width. He could feel the scorching heat from the attack on his side even through the shield. He dismissed the ether shield at the same time the lightning faded. He was about to retaliate when Seraphiel nodded once, then fled.

The ringing from the alarms faded, and the smoke settled.

Then the screaming started.

Klaus spun around, and everything stopped. Seraphiel hadn’t missed.

Frederick was contorting on the floor, the leftover traces from Klaus’s lightning sparked along his body. Markus held Alexandra back from him, both watching with wide, horrified eyes. Frederick screamed again, still somehow alive.

Then Klaus looked down and saw the hardening skin that creeped along his arms.

He ran towards Markus and Alexandra without a second thought, pulling them away from Frederick.

“You two need to leave. Now.”

Markus didn’t even argue, he let Klaus lead them towards the barricade – which Klaus tossed aside effortlessly. He opened the door and shoved them out – shutting it and locking himself inside. He prayed that Seraphiel had actually left, and he that he hadn’t just sent his students to their deaths.

Frederick groaned and screamed, still thrashing against the floor. The smell of burnt flesh made Klaus’s eye water. He forced himself to blink away the memories that threatened to surface to the front of his mind and strode over to Frederick, who held himself in a fetal position.

“It burns,” Frederick wailed, “it burns!”

Klaus’s stomach twisted, and he fought against the urge to gag. Instead, he settled on the ground next to Frederick and placed a hand over his burning forehead. From this close, Klaus could see the beginnings of a blue crystal forming just underneath Frederick’s collar.

“I know,” Klaus murmured, and willed the ether to leave the man’s body. The heat faded slightly as well, and Frederick relaxed slightly, shivering. A glance at his arms told Klaus that he hadn’t stopped the transformation, only slowed it. Frederick’s fingers were contorted and unnaturally long, and his entire arm was now covered in the sickeningly familiar hard shell that Klaus had long since familiarized himself with over the last few months.

“I’m so sorry, Frederick.”

“Don’t.”

Frederick’s jaw was clenched, but Klaus saw that some clarity had returned to his eyes. His eyes, which looked as if his irises were beginning to bleed an unnatural blue into the rest of his eyes.

“You didn’t know,” he spoke haltingly, and his hand that hadn’t yet been mangled beyond comprehension gripped Klaus’s arm.

“Just… kill me before it happens. Please.”

Klaus kept his hand pressed gently against Fredericks forehead, which was beginning to gather sweat.

“Alright.”

“I don’t want to die,” Frederick whimpered.

“I know.”

The back of Klaus’s mind buzzed. He focused on trying to keep Frederick calm. He relaxed under Klaus’s hold, and Klaus sighed.

Brown hair and brown eyes. Pink dress. A happy giggle and a wave.

Klaus jerked back just as Frederick gasped. What…

“Jessie...?” Frederick said. His voice sounded far away.

Klaus cleared his throat, shaking the image out of his head. “What was that, Frederick?” he asked.

“My little sister. You don’t see her?”

“I…” Klaus blinked, then closed his eye. “No. Tell me about her?”

“She… I haven’t seen her in a very long time. She was little, just a kid.” Fredericks breath rattled, “she was always so happy. Had mom’s hair.”

Brown hair and brown eyes. A pink dress fluttering in an imaginary breeze. Jessie smiled softly and waved.

“I don’t think she ever forgave me for leaving. I never told her why.”

The world around them was grey. Jessie’s smile faded at the edges. Klaus heard Frederick’s breath hitch. He adjusted his grip on his forehead.

The humming continued to buzz at the back of Klaus’s mind, a reassuring crackle. He reached forward and tugged the girl’s smile up a little. Her face brightened.

“I don’t think she hated you, Frederick,” Klaus whispered. “Show me the good things.”

Jessie laughed, pulling at his arm as she led them through a park. Her pink dress was the only thing left coloured in the greyed-out world. Even the flowers in the gardens looked dull and sad.

“She loved the outdoors. Always got herself in a mess. Hated taking baths,” Frederick paused to breathe. “I’ll get to see her soon, right?”

“You will.”

Frederick was curled next to Jessie, reading a bedtime story. The curtains next to the bed were open, and the stars shone through. Klaus’s hand still sat on his forehead.

“She loved reading about the stars. She would have loved it here.”

“…Are you at peace?” Klaus asked.

Frederick’s eyes closed. “With her, I am.”

The rod of ether drove through Frederick’s skull with a sickening crack, and the vision faded into dust. Klaus was jerked back into the cold, dark breakroom in the Rhadamanthus. Frederick’s hand slipped from his arm, falling limply to the floor.

Klaus pulled himself to his feet, his body felt like it was being held down by thousands of weights. He was suddenly outside the breakroom, and he saw Markus and Alexandra huddled next to each other against the wall. They looked up at him.

He was in his lab. He bit the back of his hand, trembling. The taste of plaster and blood spilled into his mouth. Klaus collapsed to the floor against the counter and sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/CW: character death
> 
> Here we go again. Gotta say, I didn’t think this was gonna happen so quickly even though I planned this all out. Then again, I only counted one human on the Rhadamanthus in Xenoblade 2… :^)  
> This was another chapter that gave me a hard time, but I think I managed to smooth it out nicely. The Xenoblade 2 soundtrack is great to listen to for inspiration.
> 
> On another note: Chapter 2 updated last Friday, feel free to check it out! Sorry for the late update 😅  
> (I also want to mention that the updates don’t hold any major differences to the story; just mostly some quality changes and maybe a few fixes here and there to help the story flow more smoothly.)  
> Thanks for reading!


	15. Judge/Jury

Klaus pried his tremoring hand out of his mouth. He licked the blood off his teeth, spitting it onto the ground beside him. He felt like he was going to throw up, but the sensation eventually faded away, leaving him feeling empty and cold.

What had anyone done to deserve this? Why had he…

Klaus held his head, a quiet whimper escaping him. He swallowed his scream and grabbed the counter, dragging himself to his feet. He stood there for a moment, just breathing. His tears had long since dried out, and his eye felt raw. He stared down at the broken countertop, unable to make out his shattered reflection through his blurry vision.

His hand felt around at his side, grasping nothing. Perhaps this fight was useless. There was nothing stopping him from walking into his office and disappearing from the world forever.

The computer at his desk beeped. His reminder to change the ether cylinders in what was now essentially a glorified fog machine. He shut down the monitor, not wanting to look at it anymore. He was absolutely useless.

Two humans. There were two humans left on this planet. Klaus didn’t even know if he could protect them.

He limped over to the machine, shutting it down and letting the vacuum retract the nanoparticulates from the contained space. When most of the fog had been cleared, he opened the window and began cleaning out the shards of glass, placing them on the counter to be thrown out.

Klaus let his body go through the motions of cleaning up the lab, letting the brain fog take over his actions. The world felt distant, like it was him behind a glass container rather than the experiment. A particularly sharp piece of glass nicked his finger. He hardly felt the sting and tossed it to the side with the rest.

He finished cleaning out the last of the glass and picked up the paperclip. He set it in the nearest drawer, snapping it shut. Nothing was ever going to work anyway so why bother. They were all going to die anyway.

Next was the computer, which he shut down. Then the papers that were still left on the counter. He was too exhausted to find a proper place for them, so he just shoved them into a corner and let it be.

Klaus began shuffling towards his office, preparing to clean the mess of books and blankets that lay scattered around the floor when his mind blanked. He stopped suddenly, replaying the last few minutes in his head. He slowly turned back to the fog machine. With an unsteady hand, he pried open the drawer and grabbed the paperclip.

He set it down on the counter deliberately, stepping back. He turned almost automatically to a different counter and stepped behind it. His movements felt dream like and numb, like he wasn’t really experiencing it.

He bent behind the counter and grabbed the paperclip, holding it at eye level.

He looked at the paperclip in his hand, then he looked at the one on the counter by the machine. He looked back at the one in his hand. His lips parted, cracked and dry.

“Holy shit.”

* * *

Klaus’s small lab found itself a lot more packed with five of the six food printers stuffed inside. Wires connected to his computer from all five machines, giving the lab a chaotic maze-like look. He couldn’t help himself from adjusting a few lines here and there in the code as it programmed the rest of the nanoparticulates, but he couldn’t believe it. He had done it. It wouldn’t be long before he’d be able to release the bots into the world and let them do what they were created to do.

It was almost done. All those months of blood, sweat and tears had actually paid off – and Klaus didn’t know whether he wanted to jump and cheer or collapse back to the ground and sob.

Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus spotted Logos hovering outside his lab. Both of the cores hadn’t really left his side since the incident. Always staying out of the way, but within Klaus’s sight. He didn’t blame them; they hadn’t been the only ones avoiding him lately.

Klaus didn’t know how long it had been since he’d last seen Alexandra and Markus. It had been even longer since he had last spoken to them. If it weren’t for the occasional footsteps he heard though the walls of his lab, he would’ve thought he was alone. The silence was heavier than it had ever been before. Klaus had a feeling he would have to start getting used to it.

Logos’s silence was almost worse than Pneuma’s. Klaus was grateful, however. He hadn’t felt much like talking the last few days.

The purple outside his door faded away to green. Pneuma and Logos must have switched duties again. He didn’t know why one of them kept an eye on him while the other scanned for the Rebels. Out of habit, he supposed.

Oddly enough, there had been hardly any sightings of the Rebels since the… since then. Klaus shivered, setting his focus back on his work.

Klaus wouldn’t be surprised if he started sprouting grey hairs from stressing over the Rebel’s location. Much less over what they were currently up to. So far, there had only been one attempt to break into the Rhadamanthus since their last successful attempt, but Logos and Pneuma had put a stop to that fairly quickly.

Klaus couldn’t wait any longer for another attack. Not with everything on the line. The Saviorite Rebels weren’t invincible, he knew that but… but how was he supposed to stop them? They were three highly trained fighters with high level technology on their side. Klaus had half a body and a mental state that no less than ten psychologists would need to study to even decipher what was going on up there.

He glanced down at the drawer that held his notes. He opened it slowly, peering at its contents. His first page on nanobots and core crystals stared up at him in black scribbles. Klaus picked it up, the paper felt too light in his hands despite the weight of the plans that it formulated in his mind.

There may yet be a way to stop them. Klaus inhaled deeply, steadying his hand. If it didn’t work, he was dead. But so was the rest of the world. Pneuma’s light shone through the doorway, highlighting the written words.

It was a gamble he was willing to take.

Klaus stood, placing the paper in the drawer, closing it with a soft click.

His throat felt raw from unuse, but he spoke anyway, channeling his inner authoritative professor. “Pneuma, did Frederick ever specify which parts of their bodies the Saviorite Rebels have replaced?”

“No. However I have done multiple scans on their physical attributes. Notably during the confrontation in the Processor room.”

Klaus hummed. “Good. Relay them in detail to me. Is your Siren back to proper function?”

“Yes, all functioning levels are back to full capacity. I can launch whenever you give the order,” Pneuma said. “Is… there something you need me to do?”

Klaus steeled himself, clenching and unclenching his fist. “Yes. Fetch Logos and tell him I want you both to gear up and meet me at the bottom of the Beanstalk.”

The paperclips glimmered on the countertop underneath the fluorescent light.

“I have a job I need to finish.”

* * *

According to Pneuma, each of the Saviorite Rebels had certain aspects of their bodies replaced. Seraphiel was of course the most obvious – her entire spine had been replaced and moulded to develop wings that could fold in and out of her back. Klaus didn’t even want to imagine how long the surgery must have taken.

Her arms and shoulders were also replaced with high tech prosthetics to support the wings. Her legs were also prosthetic, which Klaus hadn’t noticed until Pneuma brought it up.

Uriel had apparently undergone many similar surgeries to his leader – both his arms and legs were mechanical, which was obvious enough. One detail however that Klaus hadn’t noticed was apparently his eyes had been completely replaced as well. With what technology, Pneuma wasn’t sure, but she had high suspicion that it was how they were so easily tracked down.

Gadriel… Gadriel was going to be the problem. Like her fellow Rebels, her arms and legs were completely replaced. However, the issue wasn’t her outer armour like the other two, instead the problems lied within her.

At first, Pneuma hadn’t been able to figure out what was so different about her. It wasn’t until she briefly scanned her again that she noticed her entire respiratory system had been completely replaced. Sure, Klaus could land a few good hits on her – but his initial plans to use the tranquilizers in order to render them complacent would have to change if Gadriel could just hold her breath. He would have to trap them in order to inject the drug.

Each Saviorite Rebel had their own advantages. However, they each shared a similar trait; the neurobots. Of course, those pesky shields got in the way, but if he could get close enough Klaus had an idea for a counterattack of sorts. He just hoped it would work.

Klaus stepped outside the Rhadamanthus and thunder crackled in the air. He glanced up, seeing dark clouds beginning to gather in the polluted sky. He strolled along the empty streets of his old city. There were no signs of life, but Klaus could spot movements in the shadows. He was careful to keep his distance from the particularly dark areas and buildings.

The Artifices that weren’t yet broken scraps of metal roamed the streets, paying him no mind. The difference between the city Klaus was roaming now and the one from distant memories felt jarring. It was almost as if he were in an entirely different city.

The land was in ruins. Cracked pavement and collapsed buildings was a common sight. He had yet to find a building that still had its windows intact, or a vehicle that had remained unscathed. Vegetation was sparse, though being in a city that was hardly a surprise. The trees that used to decorate along the sides of the buildings and roads were either bent or snapped beyond repair or had been completely uprooted from the ground.

Klaus walked down the middle of a normally busy road, feeling the surrealism of it all as his footsteps echoed along the sides of broken and empty buildings. 

The ether in the air here was weaker, but far more present than it had been all those long months ago. Even still, when he heard clattering against the pavement on his blind side, he called the ether to him. The power was comforting, and he pushed through the city he had destroyed.

He hadn’t yet come across any of the monsters, though their groans and shuffling set the background of the apocalyptic setting. A familiar whistle broke the uneasy silence, Logos was following closely from above in his signature black Siren. Not far above, Pneuma piloted Ophion, weaving the snake-like body between skyscrapers and taller buildings. Despite their intimidating air, Klaus could tell they were on edge just as much as he was.

Klaus finally came to a stop just as he reached a small town square. With a wave from his hand, Logos descended slowly, hovering just above the ground behind him.

Like the rest of the city, there was little to no signs of life. He heard the distant moaning from a monster, but he didn’t worry about it. It sounded far enough.

He stepped into the centre of the square, and the wind howled around him. Thunder boomed a second time, the storm growing closer. He stood patiently, hand resting at his side and his head lowered. He waited and listened.

More clattering from his left. Klaus forced himself to remain still as the Rebels practically materialized out of the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings. Uriel’s sword set itself alight with a hiss as he and Gadriel moved to his front.

“So, the Architect finally descends from his tower to meet us,” Seraphiel leapt onto a fallen piece of rubble, her wings catching the air smoothly. The pile of rocks and concrete she stood atop looked like it had been a fountain, once. She opened her arms to Klaus in a mock welcome. Uriel and Gadriel found their place at her side, standing stoically.

The ground rumbled as Logos landed behind him. Ophion answered from above with a roar. Klaus watched it circle above them like a vulture. Smaller whirs and whines told Klaus the other Artifices were already gathering around the Saviorites from behind, effectively circling them in. Unless the Rebels were willing to fight, there was no escape. Klaus stepped closer.

“Aw, are you all alone?” Gadriel cooed. “Have the others abandoned you already?”

Klaus stopped his advance, and the Saviorites inched closer – they moved not unlike a pack a wolves circling their prey. Seraphiel’s wings activated silently, the sharp edges of her metallic feathers glinted in the dark light.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Don’t tell me you’re still sad over the big guy’s death?” Gadriel said, then suddenly gasped theatrically, holding a hand to her face. “Don’t tell me, you lost more of them? What a shame!”

Uriel grunted, “Makes it easier for us. He’s got less body shields to protect himself with.”

Thunder rumbled once more, and raindrops began lightly pelting the earth. The concrete Klaus stood on glistened from the rainfall, small bits of water ran through the cracks in the road under his feet. Something caught his eye, and he knelt to inspect. A single flower bud sprung up from between the cracks of the pavement, and he caressed it with a finger, water droplets dripped from its stem.

“You know if you’re not going to say anything, we’re just gonna take your silence as acceptance that we do have to kill you,” Gadriel said.

Seraphiel held out a hand, and Gadirel settled.

Carefully, Klaus dug into the soil between the road and plucked out the plant, roots and all. He cradled it in his hand and stood, finally meeting the Saviorites eyes.

“A few days ago, I would have let you do it. I would have opened my arms and let you kill me.” Thunder crashed and Klaus waited for it to settle before speaking again, “But I know now that my role in this world is not yet finished,” he said plaintively. “Death will not be retribution enough for my sins.” He rolled the flower gently between his fingers, the soft leaves tickled his skin. “I’ve come too far to stop now.”

Klaus tucked the plant into his pocket, taking a moment to make sure it was secured before straightening himself. Thunder rumbled above them, and lightning flashed from somewhere behind him. The rain fell harder, soaking through Klaus’s clothes.

Seraphiel chuckled. She raised her hand and Klaus flinched, preparing for a blow. When nothing happened, he lowered his hand cautiously.

Lightning flashed again, and the light reflected off the edges of Galea’s card. Seraphiel twirled it between her fingers.

“It must not be easy for you, witnessing all those people die by your hand. Tell me Professor, who’s side do you think they’d be on, seeing us here?”

Klaus bit down on his cheek, his hand clenched the air at his side. “We’re both murders, Seraphiel. No fancy words or actions will change that fact,” he said.

“We work for the means to an end. The phoenix burned to ashes before it was reborn – if the world must momentarily suffer so that the greater threat can be eliminated, then so be it.”

Klaus stared. “You’re delusional.”

Seraphiel laughed, leaping down from her perch. Her wings held Uriel and Gadriel back. “And what does that make you, Professor? I’d say a little more than a hypocrite.”

Galea’s card flashed as Seraphiel offered a hand. It sat innocently in the middle of her palm.

“How about one last chance, Professor? From one cold-blooded killer to another. What say you come quietly and let us handle the rest?”

With immense effort, Klaus stepped back. “I won’t die. I can’t face them, not yet.”

Seraphiel tilted her head. “Cowardice then? Very well,” her hand curled around Galea’s card, and it disappeared somewhere on her body. “Professor Klaus, you are the last of the corruption from the old world. You will not stand in our way of justice.”

He heard Logos activate his weapons from behind him, and ether crackled in the palm of his hand. Klaus snarled. “What gives you the right?!”

Seraphiel’s wings activated, and she launched herself into the air. Her voice echoed throughout the abandoned city square, booming as if it were thunder itself. “We are the voice of the people, and their cries will not go unheard!”

Klaus was fast enough to block the blast from Seraphiel with a shield. He quickly dismissed it and ducked under a swing from Uriel’s sword. The blade’s flames singed the tips of his hair. He countered with a whip of ether, slicing across Uriel’s chest. It hardly dented the armour, but it was enough to send the Rebel stumbling backwards.

Gadriel was on him, sticking to his blind side. She ducked and weaved around Klaus’s attacks, lunging at any opening she could find.

Another blast from Seraphiel forced Klaus to bring up a shield. The distraction was enough for Gadriel to land a slice on his forearm. He stumbled, throwing a hand back at Logos.

“Hold!” Klaus ordered, then blocked Uriel’s attack.

The Siren grumbled from behind, but he held still, and Klaus felt pride blossom alongside the pain in his arm.

Klaus felt a familiar prick of pain in his head, and he stumbled to the side just in time to avoid a dive from Seraphiel, her claws whistling in the air as she swung where he once was.

Ophion roared and a blast was fired at Seraphiel, who was forced to take to the air once again. The Siren rumbled behind him and Klaus had to shout to be heard over the thunder. “Hold!”

He stepped back, avoiding Gadriel’s daggers. She twirled as if in a dance, and much to Klaus’s growing irritation and exhaustion, it made it nearly impossible to land a proper hit on her. Uriel was on him with little warning, and his sword nicked Klaus’s neck, searing his skin. Klaus hissed, then threw up a shield so he could gather some distance.

He was closer to Logos now, and he could hear the quiet ticks and coos coming from the mechanical body as Logos watched the fight below him. Klaus glanced back at him, and the black Siren shifted.

Seraphiel dove at Klaus once more and he shielded the attack. Gadriel lunged and instead of dismissing the ether, Klaus pushed it forward. The resulting shockwave sent Seraphiel and Gadriel flying back and into the pile of rubble.

Dancing flames caught Klaus’s eye and he sloppily dodged Uriel’s attack. He stumbled into the side of a building as Uriel swung again. Klaus forced the ether around him to condense into another whip and he latched it around Uriel’s sword, pulling it taught.

The Rebel struggled against Klaus, but the ether held strong. He swung Uriel around and into Logos, who caught him mid-air and pinned him to the ground.

“Uriel!” Gadriel screamed, and then she was charging at Klaus again.

Out of the corner of his eye, Klaus watched Uriel’s struggle against the metal arm begin to dwindle as Logos administered the sedative.

“Five minutes father,” Logos said.

Seraphiel seemed to realize what was happening and pulled back, her trajectory veering wildly to the side. Gadriel however continued her charge, leaping at Klaus with a wild cry.

A blade sliced through his thigh. Blood splattered and mixed into the wet pavement below. Klaus stumbled to the ground with a cry as his leg gave out on him.

“Let him go!” Gadriel shouted, her bloody dagger gleaming as she plunged it towards Klaus’s head.

Klaus heard Seraphiel shout from above. “Gadriel, stop!”

The world vanished and rebuilt itself around Klaus as he called the ether to him. A strong sense of vertigo washed over him, and it was nearly enough to make him retch. The ether here was thin, like the air at the top of a tall mountain. Gadriel’s dagger hit nothing, and she began scanning the area frantically.

He was a few paces further than he had wanted to appear, but it was close enough. Klaus forced himself to his feet and blasted Gadriel from behind with a wave of ether, throwing her into the air and directly towards Logos. Logos caught her with his other hand and pinned her to the ground.

“Gadriel!” Seraphiel shouted.

Klaus felt another prick in his head and lifted his arm. A shield materialized around Logos just as a massive energy blast was fired out of Seraphiel. She whirled on Klaus. “Stop interfering!”

He hurriedly shielded a blast that was fired wildly in his direction. The impact threw him off his feet, and he landed haphazardly a few feet back. He forced himself to his knees as a sting in his head warned him of Seraphiel’s decent from above. He halted the attack with his ether, her dagger-like claws encased in the golden light. Her wings whined as she pushed against Klaus, the tips of her fingers mere inches from his face.

“You don’t deserve this power,” Seraphiel hissed. “How many people suffered because of you? You’re nothing more than a demon in a God’s clothing!”

Klaus grit his teeth, feeling sweat beginning to trickle down his face in an effort to keep her claws out of his head. “You cannot use Aion,” Klaus spoke haltingly. “This world isn’t beyond saving yet. You’ll destroy everything that’s left.”

“You stand in the way of humanities salvation! Surrender and let us finish our duty!”

“Hasn’t the world suffered enough?” Klaus’s voice broke as Seraphiel pushed harder against his shield. Her hand shook from the effort. “Maybe we can figure this out together, with no more need for killing.”

Seraphiel leaned close, and Klaus could see her expression through the mask. Her eyes were narrowed, and a scowl was set on her lips. “So long as humans like us walk the earth, there will always be murderers.”

With a cry, Seraphiel ripped her hands away from Klaus’s shield. A single beat of her wings took her across the square, hovering above the destruction. Her armour flashed blue, and sparks shot up from her chest to her arms.

“Worthless machines!” She yelled, “I’ll bring you all down!”

She brought her hands together; the electric charge was loud enough for Klaus to hear even from the ground.

“Pneuma!” Klaus yelled over the storm.

The air whistled above and Seraphiel was forced to shield against the rain of golden ether, her EMP charge dissolving instantly. Before Klaus could blink the white Siren was atop Seraphiel, pinning her to the ground. The pavement shattered from Pneuma’s boosted fall.

Klaus stumbled back into a building, gasping for air.

“Pneuma?” He asked, still trying to catch his breath.

“Her system is fighting the sedative. You will have to act quickly.”

Klaus nodded and forced himself off the building, staggering upright. Logos’s Siren groaned as it stood and carried the other Rebels into the middle of the square, dropping them next to Pneuma none too gently.

Uriel twitched, already coming out of it. Klaus nodded at the twin Sirens. Logos quickly stepped back, but Pneuma hesitated.

“Pneuma.”

She watched him through the Siren’s green eyes. Klaus stepped forward, holding out a placating hand. “Listen to me, Pneuma.”

The Siren glanced at the Rebels and her grip tightened. Seraphiel shifted, coming to. Klaus stepped closer. “Pneuma, trust me.”

She looked back at Klaus. Dubiously, she released Seraphiel and stepped back with her sibling, much to Klaus’s relief.

“Thank you.” He breathed. The Sirens rumbled in response.

Klaus sighed then concentrated. A thin band of ether wound itself around the Saviorites, sitting them up and pinning them against each other. Seraphiel raised her head, glaring at Klaus. He tightened the restraints.

“Release us,” she said.

Klaus stepped closer, calling the whatever ether was left in the air to him. The Saviorite leader struggled still, her wings trying to clip through the ether. 

“I said release us.”

He looked down at them and saw the other two shrink back. Seraphiel refused however, continuing to glare up at him through her visor. He placed his hand on her head, digging his fingers into her helmet. She struggled.

“Release us!”

He commanded the ether to surround them. A dome of golden light fell over them. “Be still,” Klaus said, and then she was. The other two slumped with her.

“W-what?” Seraphiel gasped, unable to move under Klaus’s hand.

He would be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy the control. The power to command one’s actions with hardly a touch of his hand. Klaus shook his head and focused.

“Lower your shields.”

Seraphiel’s head jerked up, trembling in effort. “No.”

A little girl surrounded by fire. A small stuffed bear was burning in her hand. The crackles of the grey flames were silent, but the girls screams and wails were ear piercing. Klaus nearly flinched back but he held on.

Seraphiel twitched. “Get out.”

The girl was older, and the flames around her ate at corpses and buildings that were strewn across the ground. The girl knelt next to one of the corpses. Her maniacal laughter was the only sound heard over the chaotic battlefield.

The vision was similar to Frederick’s, but there was something different. Klaus reached into Seraphiel’s mind, tugging at the flames and the despair.

He heard Gadriel whimper and he turned his attention to her. Seraphiel’s vision melted away and the bloody streets were replaced with dark buildings and crowds cheering. Rage turned Klaus’s hand and he dug into her mind, like tilling soil. Suddenly the crowds backing Gadriel were turning on her. She screamed as they beat her, and Klaus watched impassively.

“Get out.”

Klaus jerked as the old laughter overlapped with Gadriel. Flames, bright orange and red leapt up his arm. He opened his mouth and Uriel’s scream escaped him. The coloured blade sliced through officers and civilians alike. War cries from the people drowned the slaughtering out.

“Get out of our heads!”

He grunted, and distantly he felt one of his legs give out. Twisted memories overlapped each other; bodies stacked on bodies as the orange flames encompassed everything. The world was fragmenting, and Klaus felt his grip begin to slip. Seraphiel stared at him through the fire as the world burned red, molten wings of metal rose from the flames.

His head pounded as countless screams and laughs joined with the Rebels. The fire exploded outward, and everything went white. Klaus gasped. “Is…is this what you want?”

The Rebels growled. “You’re twisting our thoughts. Stop it.”

Klaus’s head felt like it was being split in two. The vision and the real world were beginning to overlap as they pushed him out.

“No,” Klaus had to force his words out. He readjusted his grip against Seraphiel’s helmet, and her visor cracked. “This is your heart. This is you.”

“You’re no better than us! You don’t decide our fates!” The Rebels howled over the flames, and Klaus pushed back harder.

“No,” he said. “I’m really not.”

“Father!” Pneuma shouted and Klaus felt for the ether around them. He could feel the air begin to thicken. Another push from the Saviorites shoved him back and this time he let them. He was suddenly ripped out of the visions and he threw himself to the side, hitting the pavement hard. Two powerful blasts of lightning arced out of Pneuma and Logos’s canons, hitting the unguarded Rebels head on.

He scrambled to his feet and collapsed the dome of ether into the Rebels and they screamed. Seraphiel’s armour cracked as she lunged forward. “Professor, you’ll pay for this!” her voice was guttural.

Klaus watched them thrash and scream. “Rot in your own infernal judgement for the rest of eternity,” he said lowly.

The Rebels screamed in response and thrashed together on the shattered concrete. The sounds of their screams still shook Klaus.

Klaus turned to Logos and Pneuma, keeping a cautious eye on the convulsing Rebels. “How long?” he asked them.

“Your distraction cost us about two minutes,” Logos said. “We only had that long to charge. Did that do the trick?”

Klaus nodded as the transformation began. The Rebel’s bodies moulding together into one massive monster as the hardened shell encompassed the three of them. They screamed again and Klaus winced. He began limping back to the Sirens as the monster grew in size, thrashing in the centre of the square.

Pneuma caught him in her hand, and he took her assistance gratefully. “I don’t suppose you have enough energy left to restrain them one more time?” she asked.

Klaus shook his head, out of breath. The Sirens readied their canons.

The Rebels screamed something at him, but by now their words were garbled and unrecognizable. Blue core crystals sprouted along the body, and three pairs of glowing blue eyes blinked open. The monster roared, and Klaus’s control over the surrounding ether was ripped away. Energy gathered near one of the beast’s unnatural arm-like appendages.

The Artifices gathered at the edges of the square attacked, firing at the monster. Pneuma’s grip tightened around him and suddenly they were in the air.

“Pneuma, take father back. I’ll hold them off for now,” Logos said. He dove back down, firing a blast of dark ether at the beast. It roared and in retaliation it threw a stray Colossus at the Siren. Logos dodged with a yelp of surprise and the Artifice hit the building behind him, exploding into fire and smoke.

“Wait no-” Klaus shouted as Pneuma boosted herself away from the battle, shielding him from the wind with her hands. “Pneuma I can help!”

“Blood loss is significant and should be treated immediately. Logos and I are perfectly capable of dispatching the Saviorite Rebels without their right state of mind.”

A loud explosion shook the air and Klaus yelped as he was jostled roughly in Pneuma’s grip. He glanced behind them just as a building collapsed to the ground, smoke billowing into the sky. He glared back up at Pneuma. “You were saying?”

Pneuma slowed as they neared the port, cutting off her engines and landing softly on the platform. The jolt was still enough to irritate Klaus’s wounds and he hissed, already feeling the effects of the adrenaline beginning to fade. The Siren’s hand opened, and Klaus practically slid to the ground, stumbling over his feet. He winced at the blood staining the white of the Sirens hand, then tsked at his soaked clothing.

One glance at the perched Siren told him Pneuma wasn’t planning on going anywhere and he sighed. Klaus called the ether to him and stepped forward – only to immediately slip on the tiled floor. He quickly caught himself on a nearby countertop before he could crack his head open. He took a moment to gather his scattered thoughts and figure out where he was before realizing that he had teleported into a bathroom rather than his office.

Klaus grunted and pushed himself up, limping out the bathroom doors and heading for the nearest closet. As he fished around for a first aid kit, the hall lit up green.

He glanced at Pneuma and grumbled. “Shouldn’t you be helping your brother?”

Pneuma giggled. Klaus finally located the giant first aid box and pulled it off the shelf. He didn’t account for its weight and the lack of strength in his arm and he nearly went down with it. He stood upright, blinking away the spots in his vision. That wasn’t a good sign.

He dragged the box over to the bathroom and sat on the floor, already pulling out the bandages and needles. He paused, then glanced back at Pneuma, who had followed closely behind.

“Did you laugh?”

“You say that like I never have before, father.”

Klaus eyed her skeptically then turned back to the box. He picked up the needle and thread, then moaned. “Do I have to?”

“Only for your thigh. I would suggest a thorough cleaning before you start.”

Klaus thumped the back of his head against the wall. Great, wasn’t like he knew how to sew. Much less how to sew with one hand.

“Unless you cannot do it yourself. In which case I can prepare you some assistance.”

Klaus huffed, closing his eye. “Fine. But don’t get any ideas.”

The medical drone whirred from down the hall and Klaus busied himself with wiping the blood away with a wet towel. The cut was deep, and now that the excitement had died down, he could smell the burnt skin on his neck and the singed tips of his hair from Uriel’s blade. He winced as his leg flared up.

“Not unless you give me a reason to,” Pneuma said.

Klaus set the stained towel to the side as the drone rounded the corner and hovered close. He closed his eye again, trusting that Pneuma had the rest covered.

“How is Logos?” Klaus asked. He winced as the drone began probing at the wound and focused his attention on Pneuma’s voice instead.

“Withdrawing for now. The Rebels have been weakened significantly, but the Artifice loss has been too great. They escaped the square.”

Klaus sat upright, blinking his eye open. “What? Ow!” He resisted the urge to swat at the drone, who had stuck a numbing agent into his leg. “How did they escape?”

“I am not sure myself, but according to the footage Logos captured, they were able to manipulate the ether in the air. They became nearly immune to Logos’s ether-based attacks. Not only that, but there were three primary crystals among the amalgamates body. Only two of which Logos managed to destroy before they escaped in the chaos.”

“That…” Klaus sat back, his mind spinning with questions.

“Perhaps it should wait until you’ve recovered. Humans tend to not have the right frame of mind after significant blood loss. Logos has the rest of the Artifices taken care of.”

“But you just said that the Artifices-”

“-Are fine as long as we play our defenses wisely rather than operating solely on offensive measures. No harm can come to the Rhadamanthus so long as we look at this logically.”

Klaus grumbled, slumping against the wall. “I should’ve known not to start an argument with you.”

“I owe my successes to you, father. You have given me plenty of practice.”

Klaus glared at her. “You hang out with Logos too much. That sass will get you nowhere.”

He glanced down, surprised that the drone was already halfway finished with the stitches. He had hardly felt it. Klaus yawned, watching the needle go through the motions numbly.

“You should put pressure on your arm,” Pneuma said. “You are still bleeding.”

“It’s not nearly as bad,” Klaus said, but he grabbed the towel anyway. “You should check on Logos. Make sure he isn’t dawdling or getting himself lost.”

“Will you be alright on your own?”

Klaus waved her off lazily. “I’ll be fine. It shouldn’t take you too long. Make sure you both round up as many Artifices as you can. Resources shouldn’t be wasted.”

He raised a brow when Pneuma didn’t move. “Pneuma?”

“I’ll be back soon,” she said quickly, then darted out of the room. Klaus blinked after her. What was that all about? He sincerely hoped that the AI couldn’t get temperamental. He shuddered at the thought, then immediately regretted it as the needle poked an unnumbed part of his skin. The drone beeped at him irritably.

Klaus busied himself with watching the ceiling of the bathroom. He tried not to let his mind wander to Logos and Pneuma, knowing that they were more than capable of taking care of themselves. He hadn’t realized he was drifting off until the towel fell from his arm, landing on the floor with a thump that startled him awake. He went to reach for it then stopped, hesitating.

Carefully, he opened his pocket and slipped his hand inside. He lifted the flower out of his pocket, holding it up under the fluorescent light. Some of its petals were crushed, and a leaf had been torn off, but it was still in relatively in good shape. He sighed in relief.

He could work with this.

Footsteps sounded from outside the bathroom, and he hurriedly placed the plant back into his pocket. Alexandra and Markus both entered not soon after, their eyes widening as they took in the room. Klaus noted that the amount of blood was probably alarming to everyone else in the room who wasn’t currently in shock or half drained of it.

Markus’s eyes hardened and his lips thinned. “Is it done?”

Klaus nodded, not finding it in himself to speak to them. He glanced away, silently berating himself for being unable to look them both in the eye.

“Good.” Markus spoke, his voice held a note of finality to it.

A moments pause, then, “You’re not going to stop us?” Markus asked.

“It is your decision,” Klaus spoke to the floor. “I cannot stop you.”

Markus grunted. “See?” he murmured to Alexandra. Loud footsteps signalled that he left not soon after.

Klaus glanced up at Alexandra, who still remained, shuffling in the doorway. “Aren’t you going with him?” Klaus asked her.

She jumped, then glanced in the direction Markus left in. “He needs someone to watch his back.” She said, then turned to Klaus, her eyes sad. “I’m sorry. But I don’t think he’s wrong. There must be survivors out there somewhere. I want to help them.”

Klaus sat up, giving the drone access to his arm, who had finished its task on his leg. “If you say so,” he said. “Haven’t you already tried scanning for life from here?”

“We tried. the scanners only reach the outermost parts of this country. We need to go further.”

Alexandra hesitated, then walked towards Klaus – carefully stepping around the blood on the floor. She knelt next to him and pressed her forehead against his.

“Goodbye Professor. Keep well, okay?”

Klaus huffed. “No promises.”

Alexandra stood, rolling her eyes. “Never change, Professor.” She smiled, “I can take care of myself, and so can Markus.”

“At least let Logos and Pneuma escort you out of the area. It’s dangerous in the city.”

Alexandra nodded. “I’ll talk to him about it. Thank you, Professor.”

Soon, her footsteps faded away and Klaus was left alone once more, stewing in his own pool of blood. He thumped his head against the wall, finally letting a tear slip though his closed eyelids.

“Be safe,” he whispered after them. “Please.”

* * *

Klaus walked along the Skywalk, his footsteps tapped lightly against the glass floor. He fiddled with his coat, messing with the tie over his shoulder that kept it in place.

“Good morning, father.”

Klaus glanced up at Pneuma’s voice. He gave her a gentle smile.

“Good morning, Pneuma. Any updates this morning?”

“No significant changes yet, father. Though everything appears to be on course.”

Klaus hummed, stepping out of the gates. The wind greeted him, brushing against his face and moving his bangs from his eyes. The sun hung high in the sky, and Klaus breathed in the fresh air for the first time in years. The sky was now mostly clear of pollution, the healing process already starting to begin. He took the time to admire the natural blue that stretched endlessly above him.

He reached the edge of the port and looked over the sea of clouds below him. Over the last few years, the clouds had thickened to the point where he couldn’t even see the city below. Another strong breeze caught his hair, his messy and far longer ponytail whipping the air behind him. He carefully stepped back from the edge.

“And how goes the new replication program I installed the other week?” he asked Pneuma.

“The nanoparticulates are multiplying far quicker than anticipated. I suspect the entire surface of the earth will be covered within a weeks time.”

“Good. I’ll have you and Logos dispense the rest later today.”

“Of course.”

Klaus turned back. “Ah, Pneuma?”

“Yes father?”

“While you two are out… could you check on Markus and Alexandra for me?” He scuffed his foot against the ground. “It’s been a few years since…” Klaus trailed off, lost in his thoughts once again. Markus had wanted to cut all contact with Klaus when he left the Rhadamanthus. It was unwise, considering the dangers of the outside world. Klaus was tired of fighting the other man, but it didn’t mean he didn’t worry about them. It had been difficult enough to even convince Markus to let one of the Sirens drop them off outside the city.

Green flashed in the doorway, catching his attention. When she spoke, Pneuma’s voice held a smile in it. “Of course. Are you coming in soon?”

Klaus turned back to the cloud sea and watched the horizon. “Perhaps in a bit. I’d like to stay out here awhile.”

“Very well.”

Pneuma closed the doors behind her, disappearing back into the Rhadamanthus. Once he was sure she had left, Klaus dropped his smile. The endless clouds billowed below him, a testament to his progress over the last few years. Despite this victory, he wasn’t finished. He still had a job to do.

He reached into his pocket and fished out a small flower seed, letting it sit in the palm of his worn hand.

This was far from over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I’m so sorry for the late update… 😪
> 
> But while we’re on that note: updates will be switching from weekly to bi-weekly from now on. Thanks for your patience!  
> Thank you to everyone who’s made it this far! I really appreciate it. <3
> 
> (TIL that the Trinity Processor is in the same room as the Conduit. I’m just casually going to ignore that fact like Xenoblade 1 and 2 both casually ignore each others’ endings.)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments! they're very helpful in helping me figure out what i'm doing right or wrong :)


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